Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayyeb said on Monday that he may feel forced to retire into seclusion until "everyone bears their responsibility and the violence stops and a comprehensive national reconciliation is reached."
Tayyeb's comments come after clashes that broke out on Monday at the Republican Guard headquarters and led to the killing of 42 people and the injury of dozens others.
In a phone conversation with state TV, Tayyeb, who heads Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, called for the formation of a fact-finding committee and an immediate probe into the clashes that erupted on Monday.
The grand imam was a key party to army-sponsored talks that yielded a roadmap for political transition in Egypt after the military's ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsy on Wednesday.
