Cairo – A group of prominent Muslim clerics associated with Al Azhar University – Islam’s oldest and most credible religious teaching institution – is launching a 24-hour entertainment and education television channel as part of multimedia effort to promote moderate Islam. Known as The Azhari, the satellite channel is expected to launch during Ramadan, which will begin this year in mid-August. It will air on Arab Sat and Nile Sat, allowing the channel to reach Muslim communities from Europe to Iran to Southeast Asia, as well as English-speaking non-Muslim audiences. The channel will feature cartoons for children, Islamic soap operas, lectures and call-in shows. The new channel is seen by its founders as the beginning of a full-on multimedia strategy to promote its messages – including newspapers, radio, mobile telephone and internet. At launch, the channel will broadcast in English and Arabic, and will expand to include Hindi and Turkish.