Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PARIS (AP) — The French president has met with the grand imam of the prestigious Sunni Muslim center of learning Al-Azhar to share views on the fight against extremism.
The presidency said Francois Hollande detailed France's priorities on the issue and that French authorities welcomed Sheik Ahmed el-Tayyib efforts to combat radicalism.
Earlier Tuesday, the Cairo-based grand imam went to the Bataclan concert hall to pay tribute to the victims of the attacks carried out by Islamic extremists that left 130 dead on Nov. 13.
A French government plan presented this month includes the creation of de-radicalization facilities in every region by 2017.
El-Tayyib came to Paris to open a Muslim-Catholic conference on East-West relations, after a meeting with Pope Francis on Monday that reopened an important channel for inter-religious dialogue.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
