(AFP) French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was in Egypt Sunday where he sought to ease tensions with the Arab world, after the furore surrounding the republication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
Le Drian met with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Egypt’s highest Muslim authority, speaking of his country’s “deep respect” for Islam.
Le Drian’s highly anticipated meeting with Tayeb, head of Al-Azhar — considered the foremost religious institution for Sunni Muslims — tackled French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo‘s decision in September to reprint the cartoons.
Last month Tayeb denounced remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron about “Islamist separatism” as “racist” and spreading “hate speech.”
