Durham, Britain, Nov. 12, 2008-- Supreme Council member and Ruler of Sharjah, H. H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Tuesday visited here the Durham University, Established in 1832.

The highly reputable Durham University, which was rated among the ten best universities in Britain in 2007 by the "Times" of London, is Britain's third oldest university after Oxford and Cambridge universities.

The Sharjah Ruler was received on his arrival at the university by its Vice Chancellor, Professor Christopher Higgins, his deputies, deans of the various faculties and Professor Anosh Ehtishami, Director of the Institute of Islamic and Middle East Studies.

Sheikh Sultan started his tour of the university with a visit to the university's Orient Museum, which has a collection of valuable Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Iranian, Arabian Gulf and Middle Eastern artefacts, as well as modern arts exhibits.

The ruler expressed deep appreciation and profound admiration of the Durham University and its unique Orient museum. He later moved to the "Al-Qasimi" Block, opened in 2003, which houses the Institute of Islamic and Middle East Studies, as well as the Arabic, Iranian, Chinese and Japanese studies centres, which has a total of 50 students from various parts of the world.

He met with the students and advised them to arm themselves with mutual respect and tolerance and to distance themselves from the conflicts of civilisations.

The meeting also touched on his sweet memories of his days at the University as a student during which he obtained his PhD in 1999. (WAM/SA)