After two months of tension a solution has been proposed to the dispute surrounding Abu Fana Monastery. Not everyone is pleased, though, reports Reem Leila The ad-hoc committee formed on 30 July to seek an end to the conflict that erupted between Bedouin Arab tribesmen and monks at the historic Abu Fana Monastery in Mallawi has ruled that the construction of a wall surrounding the monastery be resumed amid tightened security measures. The committee, which was headed by Minya Governor Ahmed Diaaeddin and included Minya MP Alaa Hassanein, Mallawi businessman Eid Labib, representatives of the monastery and of the Bedouin Arabs involved in the dispute, decided the monks should control the northwestern areas of the monastery while the Arabs will have rights to the eastern and northern areas. Both parties are now obliged to put the agreement into action, says Hassanein. The committee has also stipulated that anyone failing to abide by its findings be fined an amount that has yet to be decided. Diaaeddin added that the committee recommended that any wall surrounding the monastery include only the original archaeological site, while a second wall will be built around Christian tombs close to the monastery. "A gate will be built, to be supervised by the monastery," he said. The committee's decisions, says Diaaeddin, carry the force of law. The committee also stipulated that " should work on convincing expatriate Copts to halt demonstrations under the claim Copts are being persecuted, which harms Egyptians, both Muslims and Copts," according to Diaaeddin. "They do not know our social and political climate, and their actions foment internal sedition," he said, adding that it was unacceptable to stage anti-Egyptian demonstrations abroad. The Coptic Church is unhappy with the proposed settlement. Anba Morcos, bishop of Shubra Al-Kheima and the church's media spokesman, says the committee has effectively ordered the confiscation of most of the land cultivated by the monks, reducing the holdings of the monastery from 2,000 feddans to 500. In response, Diaaeddin says "Abu Fana's monks cultivated the land without government consent. They now want to claim ownership. The land, though, belongs to the government, not to the monks or the Bedouin." Anba Morcos was more conciliatory over calls to halt demonstrations. "The word 'persecution' suggests legal discrimination between citizens, something that does not exist in Egypt. Egypt has no laws for the majority and others for its minorities." "I don't know how best to describe the current Copt-government stand-off over the Abu Fana Monastery. For many the problem appears no more than a dispute over a piece of land that has spilled over into sectarian strife," says political analyst Sameh Fawzi. A lack of transparency has clearly contributed to the confusion surrounding the case. That the government -- for which read security agencies -- has always preferred to settle such disputes via reconciliation committees rather than applying the letter of the law, has muddied the waters, believes Fawzi. "We are all in support of reconciliation between disputants but this cannot replace the law. The law must be implemented: in a modern state it applies equally to all."
