CAIRO: Al-Azhar, the top Sunni Muslim authority, on Thursday called on the “free world” to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations.

“Al-Azhar asks all the countries in the free world to stand alongside Palestine so that it can enjoy stability like any other country in the world, and vote for its recognition” at the UN, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, grand imam of the Cairo-based Al-Azhar, said in a statement.

He also “renewed his call to the free world to oppose the American administration” which announced that it would veto the Palestinian bid to seek full UN recognition for their state.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas is due to submit that request to the UN Security Council on Friday after addressing the General Assembly, despite staunch opposition from Washington and Israel, and the US decision to veto the request.