Obama out on a limb in Cairo

By: Mitch Potter Washington Bureau, Published on Wed Jun 03 2009

 

WASHINGTON – As political tightropes go, President Barack Obama is about to walk a precarious line tomorrow in a high-stakes speech aimed at closing the chasm with Islam.
But as the young American leader approaches the dais in Cairo for what many hope will be a milestone of cultural outreach, Obama can take solace in signals from prominent Muslim leaders determined to meet him in the moderate middle.

Officials with Cairo's ancient Al-Azhar University, widely regarded as one of the world's great fonts of Muslim thought, this week announced the launch of a new satellite channel to reclaim what they regard as the authoritative Islam – a pluralistic, tolerant religion committed to a peaceful planet.
The Al-Azhari channel is to go to air in mid-August for the start of the holy month of Ramadan with a 24-hour-a-day blend of education and entertainment that aspires to meet the bridge-building challenge "for the Obama era," says the project's main benefactor.

"We've been talking about it for a few years. But with Obama taking the initiative and going so far to calm tensions, this is the moment to reciprocate," said Hassan Tatanaki, a Libyan oil executive and philanthropist who seeded the station with an initial infusion of $2.9 million.

Getting senior scholars at Al-Azhar on board, Tatanaki said, was the crucial step in bringing the idea to reality. While Islam has no formal hierarchy with which to render religious ruling – Al-Azhar, founded in 975 – stands as the foremost centre of Sunni Muslim learning. read more

Satellite Channel to Challenge 'Islamic Extremism'

A new free-to-air satellite television channel based in Egypt will promote moderate Islam and challenge notions of extremism when it launches in August, according  to its founders, which include Muslim clerics associated with Egypt’s Al-Azhar University.

Sheikh Khaled el-Guindy, a member of Egypt's Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs and a driving force behind the "Azhari" channel, told the Associated Press the channel would leverage the talents of Al-Azhar graduates to combat incorrect interpretations of the religion.

"Azhari will promote the idea that Islam is a religion of moderation free from extremism," he said.

"Several satellite channels right now promote a strict interpretation of Islam and issue incorrect religious opinions that fill young people with extremist ideas.

New channel for moderate Islam to be launched

Al-Azhar announces launch of new satellite channel to challenge extremist distortions of Islam.

Middle East Online

By Paul Schemm - CAIRO

Azhari is set to be launched in mid-August A group of Muslim clerics connected with Egypt's prestigious Al-Azhar University have announced the creation of a new satellite channel to propagate moderate Islam and challenge what it describes as extremist distortions of the religion. The announcement comes just ahead of President Barack Obama's address Thursday to the Muslim world from Cairo in a speech co-sponsored by Al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam's premier educational institution. Sheik Khaled el-Guindy, a member of Egypt's Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs and a driving force behind the "Azhari" channel, said the idea is to use the knowledge and skills of Al-Azhar graduates to combat ignorant interpretations of the religion. "Azhari will promote the idea that Islam is a religion of moderation free from extremism," he told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "Several satellite channels right now promote a strict interpretation of Islam and issue incorrect religious opinions that fill young people with extremist ideas." There are dozens of Islamic satellite channels in the Middle East, with many receiving funding from the conservative oil-rich Gulf and propagating a very conservative form of the religion. "Audiences need people that deal in reality and respect reality and respect changes in the world. These channels don't present these things. Some of these channels are just ignorant of reality," said el-Guindy, explaining that graduates of al-Azhar university are well grounded in subjects outside of religion as well. Azhari is set to be launched in mid-August, at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and will present a mix of entertainment and educational programing, including children's cartoons, soap operas and call-in shows. The channel will initially be broadcast in English and Arabic, with plans to expand it to Turkish and Hindi, and will be viewable from Europe to Southeast Asia. "The idea is to really show moderate Islam, not this extreme one that is being utilized by others," said Hassan Tatanaki, a Libyan businessman who helped provide the channel's $2.7 million in initial funding. "Our aim is to be able to reach not only the Arab Muslims, but the non-Arab Muslims, mainly in the Far East, the Near East, places like the US and Europe."

Libya Needs $25 Billion in Investments for Oil Production, Challenger Says

Libya’s oil industry will need at least $25 billion in investment to increase its oil production to 2 million barrels a day, the chairman of drilling-rig operator Challenger Ltd. said.

“Fields need to be developed, others redeveloped,” Hassan Tatanaki said in a telephone interview today. “The Libyan oil industry needs a lot of revamping. We have to reinvest to be able to get the proper cost effective amount into the industry in terms of the country’s production level.”
The armed conflict in Libya, holder of Africa’s largest proven reserves, has reduced the nation’s output to 100,000 barrels a day in July from the 1.6 million barrels pumped before the uprising started in February. A full recovery of production may take as long as three years, according to analyst estimates.

Tatanaki, 53, said he intends to play a role in rebuilding Libya’s oil industry, of which Challenger’s 35 rigs across the country “are the core.” His Libya El Hurra charity, set up shortly after the unrest began, has been providing humanitarian aid and relief to refugees and those displaced by the conflict in Libya operating out of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and the U.S.

“We’re not just concentrating on just medical and food supplies,” Tatanaki said. “We also want to play a part in other ways so that in the next year or so we have a proper constitution, transparency that helps create a democracy.”

Forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi continued to battle rebels in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, as the opposition National Transitional Council said the North African nation’s humanitarian aid needs are “urgent.”

Rebel leaders worked to retrieve assets frozen by the United Nations and individual countries in an effort to obtain funding for food, and humanitarian and medical needs, transitional council Chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil said at a press conference in Benghazi yesterday. Since fighting began in Libya, the number of people killed has “exceeded 20,000,” Abdel Jalil said yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Massoud A. Derhally in Beirut at mderhally@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net

Al-Azhar plans satellite television channel about Islam

The channel will be broadcast on both main satellite channels operating in Egypt and will be accessible worldwide. It will initially transmit in Arabic with some English and French programming and there are plans to add content later in Urdu and Turkish. Azhari received its initial 15 million Egyptian pounds funding from a Libyan businessman and philathropist, Hassan Tatanaki.
Guindy told Reuters the plan really got going about a month ago, when he officiated at the wedding of Tatanaki’s daughter. “The father of the bride and I forgot completely about that wedding and started to talk about a new wedding, about how to introduce this new channel to the rest of the world,” he said.

Guindy is hopeful that a new age, which he dubs the Age of Obama, is dawning in which a dialogue between Islam and the West will flourish. And he hopes his channel will play an important role in that conversation. Yet for all his modern touches, Guindy retains a deeply traditional side. He preferred to conduct our interview not in English or everyday modern Arabic, but in precise classical Arabic.

Source: http://in.reuters.com/article/2009/05/31/idINIndia-39998720090531

Azhari TV to cater to wider audience in four other languages

By Safaa Abdoun
Daily News Egypt

CAIRO: In a bid to bridge cultural gaps and clear misconceptions about Islam, Azhari TV is reaching out to a wider audience and is now available in English, French, Urdu and Pashto in addition to its original Arabic language programming.
Azhari TV was first launched following US President Barack Obama's address to the Muslim World in June 2009 where he called for a dialogue based on mutual respect and understanding between people of different faiths.

One year later, Azhari TV, the educational and entertainment satellite channel created to promote moderate Islam, has decided to expand.
“[Through Azhari TV] we're trying to show the people in the west and the rest of the world that the problem isn't in Islam but it's the misinterpretations by certain people that's the problem,” said Hassan Tatanaki, chairman of Azhari TV, in an interview with Daily News Egypt.
The satellite channel was founded with the aim of promoting a moderate interpretation of Islam and intends to counter extremist rhetoric which they saw dominating the debate.

Breaking language barriers

Operating on a new channel, Azhari TV 2, the dub of the Arabic language channel's original content into four additional languages, will enable the station to reach homes across Europe and Asia, spreading its message of reason and tolerance.

Al-Azhar plans satellite television channel about Islam

 Dressed in his robe and turban, Sheikh Khaled Al-Guindy sits in the plush offices of the main benefactor of his new satellite television channel and speaks about how modern technology can be turned to service for Islam. The al-Azhar scholar, who in 2000 launched a phone-in service for Muslims seeking religious guidance, is one of the founders of Azhari, a 24-hour channel due to launch on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which this year will start in mid-August.

The channel will be broadcast on both main satellite channels operating in Egypt and will be accessible worldwide. It will initially transmit in Arabic with some English and French programming and there are plans to add content later in Urdu and Turkish. Azhari received its initial 15 million Egyptian pounds funding from a Libyan businessman and philathropist, Hassan Tatanaki.
Guindy told Reuters the plan really got going about a month ago, when he officiated at the wedding of Tatanaki’s daughter. “The father of the bride and I forgot completely about that wedding and started to talk about a new wedding, about how to introduce this new channel to the rest of the world,” he said.


Guindy is hopeful that a new age, which he dubs the Age of Obama, is dawning in which a dialogue between Islam and the West will flourish. And he hopes his channel will play an important role in that conversation. Yet for all his modern touches, Guindy retains a deeply traditional side. He preferred to conduct our interview not in English or everyday modern Arabic, but in precise classical Arabic.