"Al Tayib was one of the biggest apologists for the Mubarak regime and
he cannot stay in his position," an Al Azhar opposition cleric said.
Al Azhar, financed and controlled by the regime, has long been divided
between Mubarak apologists and clerics close to the opposition Muslim
Brotherhood. Al Tayib, himself, has been involved in the dismissal of
hundreds of clerics deemed disloyal of the government.
With the ousting of Mubarak in February, Al Tayib has faced a wall
of opposition, Middle East Newsline reported. The university has prevented Tayib from entering his offices
and demanded that he resign.
In response, Al Tayib has offered to step down. But the new military
regime of Defense Minister Mohammed Tantawi has refused, saying this could
spark a purge of other Mubarak appointees.
"The military promised to support him and that he should be patient,"
the cleric said.
In mid-March, a military delegation met in Al Azhar with the opposition
to Al Tayib. The opposition has demanded the dismissal of Al Tayib as well
as all of his appointees and called on Al Azhar to become independent of the
regime.
Egyptian sources said Al Tayib's plight has been that of thousands of
appointees by Mubarak, who ruled from 1981 to 2011. They said that should Al
Tayib and other Mubarak appointees resign they would be vulnerable to
criminal charges linked to corruption and abuse of human rights. Already
three of Mubarak's ministers, including former Interior Minister Habib Adli,
have been on trial on charges of abuse.
Al Tayib has been accused of retaining aides at huge salaries who do not
actually work.
"If there is to be democracy and reform in Egypt, it has to start with
Al Azhar because of its enormous influence in Egypt and the rest of the Arab
world," the cleric, who feared identification, said.