Cairo, NU Online
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Grand Imam of Al Azhar Prof. Dr Ahmed Al Tayeb had a telephone conference on the safety of Indonesian students in Egypt, which is currently in turmoil.<>

"During the phone conversation, the Al Azhar Grand Imam assured the president that the Indonesian students are safe and do not need to be evacuated," Indonesian Ambassador to Egypt Nurfaizi Suwandi said here on Sunday evening as quoted by Antara news agency.

Al Azhar and the Indonesian government have given due attention to the issue of the students' safety in the midst of the ongoing crisis, noted the envoy.

The Grand Imam believed evacuation was not necessary because the country is still safe for the students, and the summer holidays will soon be over.

Al Azhar University's new academic year will begin on September 21, 2013.

During the teleconference, President Yudhoyono expressed his deep concern and the sympathy of the Indonesian government and people with regard to the crisis in Egypt.

Earlier, on August 21, 2013, the education and culture attache of the Indonesian embassy in Cairo, Dr Fahmy Lukman, met with Abdel Rahman Musa, an adviser to the Al Azhar Grand Imam in charge of diplomatic affairs, to discuss the situation in Egypt.

Musa assured Lukman that Al Azhar would contact foreign embassies in Cairo if the security situation worsened and the foreign students needed to be evacuated.

Al Azhar's 3.5 thousand Indonesian students live in Cairo and other Egyptian cities.

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq