CAIRO: A Syrian man on Tuesday attempted to attack Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a shoe as the President left Al-Hussein mosque in Cairo where he was to offer the prayer. The leader is in Cairo to attend a summit of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC). It’s the first visit of an Iranian leader to Egypt since 1979.
The attacker, who attempted to hit Ahmadinejad as he left the mosque, is reported to be a young man with “a Syrian accent”. Egyptian security forces managed to seize and arrest the man following the incident.
The video, taken by the news agency’s correspondent, shows a young man shouting at Ahmadinejad and trying to hit the president’s head with a shoe, instead striking one of his bodyguards.
The attacker was heard chanting anti-Iranian slogans for supporting the Syrian government, the news agency noted.
Many Sunni Muslim groups have denounced the Iranian president’s visit to Cairo and have called on Egypt’s government to prevent Ahmadinejad from visiting any religious sites that are significant to Shia Muslims.
Ahmadinejad met with Islam’s most senior scholar at Al Azhar shortly before he went to pray at the Al-Hussein Mosque.
DND
