Berlin/Cairo (Earth Times) - Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak has appointed a new head of al-Azhar University, one of the world's most respected institutions of Muslim learning, the government announced Friday.
Mubarak issued a presidential decree appointing Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed al-Tayib as the sheikh of al-Azhar, Egypt's Ministry of Information said in a statement.
Al-Tayib's predecessor, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed al-Tantawi, died of a heart attack in Saudi Arabia at the age of 81 over a week ago.
Cairo's 1,000-year-old al-Azhar University is a widely respected educational institution in Egypt and around the Sunni Muslim world. The sheikh, or religious leader, of the institution, has been appointed by the Egyptian president since 1961.
Al-Tayib had served as the president of the university since 2003, and had previously served as Egypt's mufti, the government's top religious authority.
Mubarak, 81, is recovering from surgery in hospital in Heidelberg, Germany.
He had temporarily assigned his duties to Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, but the Egyptian government on Friday said Mubarak had begun to assume some of his responsibilities again.
He had also phoned Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi to thank them for their earlier inquiries as to his health.
Friday's announcement follows state television's broadcast, on Tuesday, of the first footage of the president since his operation.
The pictures were released after the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange posted sharp losses, reportedly caused by concern over the president's health. The market quickly recovered lost ground after the footage was broadcast.
Mubarak issued a presidential decree appointing Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed al-Tayib as the sheikh of al-Azhar, Egypt's Ministry of Information said in a statement.
Al-Tayib's predecessor, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed al-Tantawi, died of a heart attack in Saudi Arabia at the age of 81 over a week ago.
Cairo's 1,000-year-old al-Azhar University is a widely respected educational institution in Egypt and around the Sunni Muslim world. The sheikh, or religious leader, of the institution, has been appointed by the Egyptian president since 1961.
Al-Tayib had served as the president of the university since 2003, and had previously served as Egypt's mufti, the government's top religious authority.
Mubarak, 81, is recovering from surgery in hospital in Heidelberg, Germany.
He had temporarily assigned his duties to Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, but the Egyptian government on Friday said Mubarak had begun to assume some of his responsibilities again.
He had also phoned Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi to thank them for their earlier inquiries as to his health.
Friday's announcement follows state television's broadcast, on Tuesday, of the first footage of the president since his operation.
The pictures were released after the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange posted sharp losses, reportedly caused by concern over the president's health. The market quickly recovered lost ground after the footage was broadcast.
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