Grand Imam of Al-Azhar: Muslims Are Actual Terrorism Victims

Al-Azhar's Grand Imam  Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb gives an interview to Agence France Presse on June 9, 2015 in Florence (AFP Photo/Alberto Pizzoli)
Al-Azhar's Grand Imam Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb gives an interview to Agence France Presse on June 9, 2015 in Florence (AFP Photo/Alberto Pizzoli)
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Grand Imam of Al-Azhar: Muslims Are Actual Terrorism Victims

Al-Azhar's Grand Imam  Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb gives an interview to Agence France Presse on June 9, 2015 in Florence (AFP Photo/Alberto Pizzoli)
Al-Azhar's Grand Imam Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb gives an interview to Agence France Presse on June 9, 2015 in Florence (AFP Photo/Alberto Pizzoli)

Al-Azhar's Grand Imam Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb said Monday that despite Muslims being described “by brutality and violence….they are only victims of terrorism,” explaining that the reasons behind terrorism are not Islam or any other religion, but global regimes that trade religions, and morals for power.

During his speech in the opening of the Al-Azhar’s international symposium under the theme “Islam and the West: Diversity and Integration,” Tayeb added that the eastern civilization respects religion and science regardless of their source.

Tayeb continued that the terrible silence on terrorism enabled armed political movements to link Islam to other terrorist crimes.

In his speech before the attendees, Belgian former Prime Minister Yves Leterme said that the West knows that Islam is devoted to democracy and equality, stressing the importance of dialogue to achieve its goals.

Former president of Montenegro Filip Vujanovic stated that the Islamic culture is based on rejecting violence and on respecting others. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said that believers will work devotedly to lay a common ground through which risks can be faced and peace attained.

The three-day seminar, held at Al-Azhar Conference Center, will discuss a number of topics related to Islam and Europe, including tension between Muslims and others in Europe.



Israel Vows Action Against Any Truce Violation by Hezbollah

This picture taken from a position along Israel's northern border with Lebanon shows vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese Army deploying in Lebanon's southern village of Odaisseh on February 18, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
This picture taken from a position along Israel's northern border with Lebanon shows vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese Army deploying in Lebanon's southern village of Odaisseh on February 18, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
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Israel Vows Action Against Any Truce Violation by Hezbollah

This picture taken from a position along Israel's northern border with Lebanon shows vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese Army deploying in Lebanon's southern village of Odaisseh on February 18, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
This picture taken from a position along Israel's northern border with Lebanon shows vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese Army deploying in Lebanon's southern village of Odaisseh on February 18, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed on Tuesday that troops remained in "five positions" in south Lebanon past a pullout deadline, vowing action against any truce violation by Hezbollah.

Israeli forces withdrew from border villages in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, under the deadline spelled out in a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.

The military "will remain in a buffer zone in Lebanon with five control positions, and will continue to act forcefully and uncompromisingly against any Hezbollah violation," said Katz in a statement shortly after the extended deadline expired for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon under the November 27 truce deal.

He also said the army had erected new posts on the Israeli side of the border and sent reinforcements there.

“We are determined to provide full security to every northern community,” Katz said.

Lebanese soldiers moved into the areas from where the Israeli troops pulled out and began clearing roadblocks set up by Israeli forces and checking for unexploded ordnance. They blocked the main road leading to the villages, preventing anyone from entering while the military was looking for any explosives left behind.

Most of the villages waited by the roadside for permission to go and check on their homes but some pushed aside the roadblocks to march in. Many of their houses were demolished during the more than year-long conflict or in the two months after November’s ceasefire agreement when Israeli forces were still occupying the area.