PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday paid tribute to Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the Egyptian cleric who died this week at age 81, saying he embodied "an Islam of dialogue and openness."

Tantawi, Sunni Islam's top cleric who last year caused a national row when he banned the wearing of the full veil, died Wednesday in Saudi Arabia of a heart attack suffered while boarding a plane.

"The world has lost a premier figure in the effort to foster inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue," Sarkozy said in a statement.

Tantawi "worked tirelessly to promote understanding between peoples and religions," said Sarkozy.

"A man of peace and of tolerance, he embodied an Islam of dialogue and openness," he said.

Sarkozy met Tantawi in Cairo in 2003, when he was French interior minister.

Home to Europe's biggest Muslim minority of between five and six million, France has been debating measures to outlaw the wearing of the full Islamic veil.