Abu Fana's monks are unhappy with the report of the committee set up to investigate conflicting land claims, Reem Leila reports The sit-in by 1,000 monks and novices at Abu Fana Monastery which started two weeks ago is continuing. They are protesting against a decision by the arbitration committee that a wall built around the monastery be removed. The construction of the wall provoked the clashes of 31 May when Bedouin Arab tribesmen attacked monks, claiming that the wall had been built on agricultural land belonging to them. Minya Governor Ahmed Diaaeddin set up a committee to determine the legal and archaeological claims of the monastery. The committee subsequently issued a report which has been ratified by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif. Based on decree 212 for the year 2002, issued by the Ministry of Culture and the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA), the report recommended that any wall surrounding the monastery include only the original archaeological site. The committee also acted to prevent the construction of any additional cells for hermits, many of which lie more than 3km from the site of the monastery. Protecting existing cells, the committee concluded, was the responsibility of whoever constructed them and not of the government. The report also identified disputed land surrounding the monastery as government property. Already cultivated lands are to be returned to the government. "Abu Fana's monks cultivated these lands without government consent. They now want to claim ownership. The lands, though, belong to the government, not to the monks or the Bedouin," says Diaaeddin, who insists that he is not presiding over a reconciliation meeting. Engineer Mahmoud Abdel-Barr, a member of the committee who works for the Urban Communities Authority (UCA), agrees with Diaaeddin. "None of the disputing parties own the land or have any deed by which they can prove the ownership," he says. The clashes that took place at the monastery on 31 May raised fears that the incident could spark further sectarian disputes, which goes some way to explaining the sit-in. Monks and priests, along with 60 Coptic citizens, take shifts throughout the day as security forces have increased their presence around the monastery. According to reports, Pope Shenouda III has instructed Abu Fana's monks to ignore the committee report and stop dealing with the governor's decisions. "The pope's decision was taken following a meeting between the archbishopric and the governor," said lawyer Ehab Ramzi. "The governor has tricked us," Ramzy quoted the pope as saying. Minya's governor, says Ramzi, promised to solve the issue taking into consideration the requests made by the monks. "They wanted the governor to approve a wall that would enclose the surrounding lands. The monks have also offered to buy the cultivated lands. None of the requests were considered by the governor. The pope's intervention came after the governor accused the monastery of aggressing on the state." The Coptic Ecclesiastical Council recently sent a letter to President Hosni Mubarak urging him to protect Egypt's Coptic Christians. The letter urged Mubarak to end attacks on monks and "insults to the cross". Pope Shenouda called for heavy security presence around the monastery during a phone-in on a TV show on 7 June, yet Abu Fana's monks have complained that security forces are preventing people from accessing the monastery to make donations or bring in building materials. Major General Mohamed Noureddin, director of Minya's Security Department, has issued statements to the media claiming that the monk's sit-in is an incitement to Copts to clash with their Muslim neighbours. "Any deterioration in the situation could lead to sectarian disputes that threaten national security," said Noureddin. In response to Noureddin's statement, Ramzy explained that the sit-in is peaceful and an act of self-defence.
