Ashraf Edward, a lawyer representing the Virgin Mary church in the Ain Shams neighbourhood of Cairo, said the church's legal committee is to present a request to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the interior minister and the cabinet that the church be reopened. The church is one of many that were closed down under the former regime, allegedly for security reasons. In related news, dozens of Coptic Christians staged a demonstration before the Egyptian Embassy in London, demanding the trial of those who burned down churches in Egypt. “Muslims joined our demonstration, as Islam prohibits the burning down of churches,” said Ibrahim Habib, head of the UK Copts Association. Also, Medhat Kelada, head of the Union of Coptic European Organizations, said similar demonstrations were staged before the Saudi Embassy in Holland, demanding that Saudi Arabia stop financing Islamic groups in Egypt to carry out acts of terrorism against Copts. Translated from the Arabic Edition
