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ByNicoleWinfield and Brian Rohan The Associated Press CAIRO PopeFrancisurged Egypt's leading imams on Friday to teach their stu- dents to reject violence in God's name and preach messages of peace and toler- ance instead, forging ahead with a delicate visit to the Arab world's most populous country following a spate of deadly Islamic militant at- tacks against Christians. Francis arrived to a sub- dued welcome and a heavy police presence at Cairo's international airport. But he brushed off security con- cerns by driving into town with his windows rolled down in a simple blue Fiat — not the armored "pope- mobiles" of his predeces- sors. Francis has said he wanted to bring a message of peace to Egypt, which has been enduring an in- creasingly emboldened in- surgency led by a local af- filiate of the extremist Is- lamic State group. In a speech to Pres- ident Abdel-Fattah El- Sissi and diplomats from around the world, Francis strongly backed the Egyp- tian government's crack- down against the militants, saying Egypt had a unique role to play in forging peace in the region and in "van- quishing all violence and terrorism." Francis' major event of the day was a landmark visit to Cairo's Al Azhar university, the revered, 1,000-year-old seat of Sunni Islam learning that trains clerics and scholars from around the world. There, he warmly em- braced Sheikh Ahmed el- Tayeb, Al-Azhar's grand imam who hosted the pope and other senior Muslim leaders, students and schol- ars at a peace conference. The conference center fea- tured a mock-up of the fa- mous Al-Azhar mosque, complete with faux win- dows and flooded with pur- ple lights. Speaking to the crowd, Francis recalled that Egypt's ancient civilizations valued the quest for knowl- edge and open-minded ed- ucation, and said a similar commitment to education is required today to com- bat the "barbarity" of reli- gious extremism among the young. While Al-Azhar has stronglycondemnedIslamic fundamentalism, Egypt's pro-government media has accused its leadership of failing to do enough to re- form the religious discourse in Islam and purge canon- ical books from outdated teachings and hatred for non-Muslims. "As religious leaders, we are called to unmask vio- lence that masquerades as purported sanctity," Fran- cis said to applause from the crowd. "Let us say once more a firm and clear 'No' to every form of violence, vengeance and hatred car- ried out in the name of reli- gion or in the name of God." "To counter effectively the barbarity of those who foment hatred with vio- lence, we need to accom- pany young people, helping them on the path to matu- rity and teaching them to respond to the incendiary logic of evil by patiently working for the growth of goodness," he added. El-Tayeb thanked Francis for what he called his "fair" comments against charges of terror and violence lev- eled against Muslims and Islam. "We need to cleanse reli- gions from wrong notions, false piety and fraudulent implementations which stoke conflicts and incite hatred and violence," he said. "Islam is not a reli- gion of terrorism because a minority from among its followers hijacked some of its texts" to shed blood and be provided by some with weapons and funds, he said to applause. Francis too called for an end to the flow of weapons and money to militants, saying that "only by bring- ing into the light of day the murky maneuverings that feed the cancer of war can its real causes be prevented." In addition to Francis' main message of repudiat- ing religiously-inspired vi- olence, the Friday-Satur- day visit is also meant to lift the spirits of Egypt's large Christian community after three suicide bomb- ings since December — in- cluding deadly twin Palm Sunday church attacks — killed at least 75 people. Egypt's Islamic State affil- iate claimed responsibility for the attacks. Egypt's el-Sissi, a gen- eral-turned-president, de- clared a nationwide state of emergency following the Palm Sunday attacks in a bid to better deal with the insurgency through wider police powers and swift trials. Francis strongly backed his stance, saying his re- pudiation of religiously-in- spired violence "merits at- tention and appreciation." "Egypt, in the days of Jo- seph, saved other peoples from famine; today it is called to save this beloved region from a famine of love and fraternity," he said. "It is called to condemn and vanquish all violence and terrorism." El-Sissi has had the sup- port of Egypt's Christian community in his crack- down. But he has been crit- icized for human rights vi- olations and was ostracized by much of the West after ousting Egypt's first demo- cratically elected president in 2013, the Islamist Mo- hammed Morsi whose one- year rule proved divisive. Francis' support is likely to embolden el-Sissi further after he recently won a cov- eted White House visit. Speaking alongside Fran- cis, el-Sissi said Islamic mil- itants who commit acts of terror cannot claim to be Muslim. "True Islam does not command the killing of the innocent," he said. Later on Friday, Francis headed to the seat of the Coptic Orthodox Church, whose followers are the vast majority of Egypt's es- timated nine million Chris- tians, to meet its spiritual leader, Pope Tawadros II. Francis and Tawadros presides over an ecumen- ical prayer service in St. Peter's church, the central Cairo church hit by a sui- cide bombing in Decem- ber that killed 30, most of them women. Together the two Christian leaders were to pray for the victims of the attacks. VATICAN Po pe u rg es E gy pt i ma ms t o te ac h and preach tolerance, peace AMRNABIL—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Pope Francis, flanked by Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, right, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, the pre- eminent institute of Islamic learning in the Sunni Muslim world, greets participants in an International peace conference, in Cairo, Egypt, on Friday. RISTO BOZOVIC — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Anti-NATO demonstrators hold a banner during a protest outside the hall before the parliament session in Cetinje, Montenegro, on Friday. By Predrag Milic The Associated Press CETINJE, MONTENEGRO Montenegro's parliament on Friday supported the Balkan country's member- ship in NATO in a historic turn toward the West amid protests by Russia and the pro-Russia opposition. Lawmakers voted 46-0 in the capital of Cetinje to ratify the accession treaty with the Western military alliance. They then stood up and applauded the de- cision. The parliament has 81 members, but pro-Russia opposition lawmakers boy- cotted the session. Several hundred opposition sup- porters gathered outside the hall before the vote. Montenegro has a small military of around 2,000 troops, but it is strategi- cally positioned to give NATO full control over the Adriatic Sea. The other Adriatic nations — Alba- nia, Croatia and Italy — already are in the alliance. Russia has been angered by NATO's expansion to Montenegro, which is in Moscow's traditional area of interest. Russia's Foreign Minis- try on Friday denounced the Montenegrin par- liament's ratification of NATO membership as "a demonstrative act of tram- pling all democratic norms and principles." The ministry took a dis- missive swipe at the coun- try's size and military ca- pability, saying that "given the potential of Montene- gro, the North Atlantic al- liance is unlikely to receive significant 'added value'." Montenegro has accused Russia of being behind a foiled Election Day coup in October allegedly designed to throw the country off its path toward NATO. Russia has denied the accusation, but has actively supported the opposition. Prime Minister Dusko Markovic told lawmakers that NATO membership was a guarantee for Mon- tenegro's future security, economic progress and re- gional stability. "This assembly and its members have a historic privilegetomakeadecision that will be remembered as longasthereisMontenegro and Montenegrins," Mar- kovic said. "This day will be marked among the bright- est in our history." Markovic's predecessor, Milo Djukanovic, who was the head of government during the alleged coup at- tempt that reportedly in- cluded plans for his assas- sination,saidjoiningNATO was the most important de- cision in recent history. "After long suffering and roaming through history, (Montenegro) is finally in the position where it log- ically, historically, civili- zation-wise and culturally belongs," Djukanovic said. Anti-NATO demonstra- tors chanted "Treason!" and "Thieves!" and burned a NATO flag during the protest outside parliament before peacefully dispers- ing. A banner read: "NATO murderers, your hands are bloody!" "I feel humiliated be- cause others are making a decision in my name," for- mer Montenegrin Presi- dent Momir Bulatovic said. "What is happening now is triumph by force and lies!" 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