Egypt's top Islamic authority to hold meeting in bid to halt crisis

Egypt's leading Islamic authority Al-Azhar will call a meeting on the country's crisis next week, the state news agency reported, in a new effort to resolve the bloody standoff after the government said international mediation had failed.

Al-Azhar would call for "an important meeting" after the Eid el-Fitr holiday, the MENA news agency reported. It would invite people who had proposed initiatives for ending the crisis, MENA said, citing an Al-Azhar official. "There are some initiatives that can be built upon to start national reconciliation," the official said. (Reuters)