National Front's stance on Islam needs to be corrected, Marine Le Pen told
National Front leader leader Marine Le Pen paid a visit to Egypt where she held talks with Al-Azhar during which the top Sunni Muslim body expressed serious concerns over her party's stance on Islam.
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Le Pen met with Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar, on Thursday in Cairo. According to a statement issued by al-Azhar, “during their meeting, al-Tayeb questioned her party’s hostile opinions towards Islam and Muslims".
Tayeb added that the National Front's "opinions must be reviewed and corrected".
Al-Azhar added that Le Pen recognised the need to not confuse Islam with the violent acts committed in its name.
Le Pen posted the following tweet about the meeting: "Meeting in Cairo with the highest Sunni authority: strong agreement on the fight against extremism."
Al-Azhar said that Thursday's talks were conducted at Le Pen's request "to discuss matters related to erroneous ideas and concepts about Islam and extremist ideologies and racism that some Muslims in Europe are suffering from."
Al-Azhar supervises several universities across Egypt that offer courses to thousands of Muslim students from around the world.
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