Egypt's top Muslim cleric on Thursday called on the country's rival politicians to promote dialogue after violence left more than 50 people dead.
"We should not hesitate at all in condemning violence, its promotion or its exploitation in all forms," Ahmed al-Tayeb, head of the Al-Azhar Sunni Muslim institution, told leaders of ruling Islamists and the secular opposition at a meeting.
Al Tayeb unveiled a roadmap to defuse a deepening crisis between Islamists, including President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group, and the opposition.
The charter, called al-Azhar Document, is based on embracing "dialogue as the only means to solve differences" and avoid bloodshed.
"This initiative has been drafted by a group of youth who took part in the revolution," al-Tayeb told the televised meeting, referring to a popular revolt that toppled Hosny Mubarak almost two years ago.
Attending the meeting were leaders from the Muslim Brotherhood; Mohammed ElBaradei, a leading member of the main opposition Salvation Front; and Hamdeen Sabahi, a former presidential contender.
"The document includes guarantees and mechanisms of the dialogue," said opposition leader Amr Mousa. "Cordiality prevailed at the meeting," he told a press conference after the meeting.
The charter was endorsed by the participants. They also agreed to form a committee to implement the road map.
The opposition earlier in the week rejected a call by Morsi for "national dialogue" talks.
Clergymen from Egypt's Christian minority attended the al-Azhar meeting, which comes on the eve of planned mass protests against Morsi and his Islamist-backed government.
The opposition has frequently accused Morsi, Egypt's first democratically president, of tightening the Muslim Brotherhood's hold on power and failing to revitalize an ailing economy.
It was not clear if Friday's protests will be held, although participants in the al-Azhar meeting said they supported "peaceful demonstrations."
More than 50 people were killed last week in clashes between police and Morsi's opponents, who took to the streets on the second anniversary of the anti-Mubarak uprising.
Islamists and the opposition traded blame for the violence, which prompted Morsi to impose a night-time curfew and a state of emergency in three coastal cities most affected by the unrest.
Egyptian authorities Wednesday reduced the hours of the unpopular curfew on the cities of Port Said, Suez and Ismailia.
Angry residents in the three Suez Canal cities have defied the curfew since it was imposed Sunday, holding street protests and football matches past midnight.