The head of Egypt's ruling military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, met with Coptic Pope Shenouda III at the military council's headquarters in Cairo on Monday. A church source, who spoke to Al-Masry Al-Youm on condition of anonymity, said Tantawi and Shenouda held a closed meeting, attended by the head of the general intelligence service, Morad Mouwafi. The meeting was held to address the violence at Maspero that occurred on 9 October, which resulted in 27 civilian deaths and more than 300 injuries, as well as Coptic protests abroad. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) this month issued an anti-discrimination law by decree in response to the violence, the source said. The meeting also addressed the law regulating building places of worship, which is expected to be discussed Wednesday by the Council of Ministers, and legalizing unlicensed churches in governorates, the source said. It was the second meeting between Tantawi and Shenouda after the 25 January revolution. Previously, they met after an assault on a church in the village of Sol in Atfeeh, Giza. The source said Tantawi called for the meeting after a church delegation met with SCAF Vice President Sami Anan last week. The Maspero violence enraged a large number of Egyptian Copts, who organized a number of protests last week, sharply criticizing the SCAF and accusing it of negligence toward attacks on Copts during the transitional period. Egyptian human rights groups accused the SCAF of assaulting Copts during the 9 October protests. They also accused state TV of inciting citizens to attack protesters, after a presenter appealed to citizens to defend “the army, which is being attacked by Copts.”
