Egypt's Al Azhar has called for the “urgent” formation of a mediation committee with representatives from Arab and Islamic countries to help end conflicts across the region.
The call by Al Azhar, the world's top Sunni Islam institution, comes as hostilities worsen between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthi militia in a new round of Middle East conflict.
In a statement on Sunday, Al Azhar's Grand Imam Dr Ahmed Al Tayeb urged Arab and Muslim leaders “to uphold the spirit of brotherhood and the bonds of religion, blood and language, give precedence to wisdom, and embrace reason and dialogue, while bringing about an immediate and comprehensive halt to all acts of war, fighting, destruction and sabotage that deplete peoples’ resources and claim innocent lives”.
He warned that divisions and infighting were weakening the Arab and Muslim world, undermining its security and sovereignty, and depleting its resources and wealth at a time when unity was urgently needed.
The 1,000-year-old Al Azhar carries considerable weight among the world's Sunni Muslims, with its current leader, Imam Ahmed Al Tayeb, enjoying wide popularity in the Arab and Islamic worlds. While the call for a mediation committee to end conflicts in the region is a rare foray by the revered institution into politics and diplomacy, it will probably be treated as a largely symbolic gesture.
Al Azhar said the proposed committee should bring together wise and sincere figures from across Arab and Islamic countries to defuse escalating crises, bridge differences and resolve disputes. It said the initiative aimed to preserve the strength and sovereignty of Arab countries, protect lives and safeguard the resources and future of their people.
The institution also expressed its readiness to provide the committee with all possible support. It expressed confidence that those involved could overcome their differences and turn the page on the past in the interests of peace and stability.
Earlier in the day, Egypt's top security body pledged “all necessary and possible forms of support” to Saudi Arabia. It met hours before parliament was due to vote on authorising President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to help defend the kingdom against attacks by the Houthi rebels. It later emerged that the parliament would reconvene for two further days to discuss the authorisation.
On Sunday, six people were injured when a projectile launched by Yemen’s Houthi militia struck a residential site in the Saudi city of Najran, the civil defence said. The incident caused material damage to three houses and three vehicles, the civil defence spokesman said in a statement. The Saudi-led coalition said it had shot down two ballistic missiles fired at Khamis Mushait and three drones over Riyadh and the Eastern Province.
The Houthis have launched 20 attacks on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport since October 1, coalition spokesman Maj Gen Turki Al Malki said on Thursday. Attacks on Saudi airports have killed 19 people and wounded 364, he said. The deadliest, on October 10 in Riyadh, killed 13, including an Egyptian flight attendant.