CAIRO: The Egyptian government will issue a law exclusively addressing church construction distinct from legislation regarding building houses of worship currently being drafted, a National Democratic Party (NDP) leader said on Saturday. State-run news agency MENA quoted Moustafa al-Fiqqi, the head of the Shura Council's Committee on Arab, Foreign and National Security Affairs, as saying that the law will be issued. The draft law on building houses of worship, however, may take time to prepare. Egypt's Christians have long complained of government policy restrictions on building churches. The Unified Houses of Worship draft law was first proposed by the ruling NDP in 2005 in an effort to regulate the construction of mosques and churches in Egypt, but was never officially endorsed. The current law, dating back to 1856, requires presidential approval for building a church. According to the Ministry of Religious Endowments, there are over 93,000 mosques in Egypt, while the number of churches is around 2,000. An organizational meeting took place on Saturday headed by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb to set up the “Egyptian House,” a body planned to include Muslim and Christian scholars. Al-Fiqqi declared during the meeting that the name of the newly established body would be changed from “Family House,” the name previously suggested, to “Egyptian House.” Al-Fiqqi also said President Hosni Mubarak is giving much attention to solving mounting sectarian tensions. He added that the Egyptian House will include 15 to 20 representatives from both religions, including political, legal, social and scientific scholars, to study the reasons behind escalating religious strife. Al-Tayeb took the initiative to launch the project after the explosion that hit an Alexandria church on New Year's Eve, according to local reports. Within a related context, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Saturday that the deadly church attack in Alexandria on New Year's Eve targeted the whole country and not just its Coptic Christians. The bombing outside the church that killed 21 people was “directed at Egypt and Egyptian unity and to weaken the national fabric,” Abul Gheit said after talks with visiting French counterpart Michele Alliot-Marie. “The Egyptian people, Christians and Muslims, had the feeling that national unity was the aim,” he added. “The Egyptian constitution is extremely clear on freedom of belief, on the right to practice one's faith and on the duty of the state to protect its citizens.” Alliot-Marie said the perpetrators had targeted the “Egyptian state, with its characteristics of democracy and tolerance.” She said the Egyptian population had reacted “exactly like in France when there is an act against a mosque or a synagogue: there is unity.” “All our democracies, because they are tolerant and stress freedom of thought and the right of worship in their texts and in their government's statements, are challenged by the terrorists,” she said. Egypt has firmly rejected several Western calls for the protection of the country's Christian minority as “interference” in its domestic affairs. Cairo recalled its envoy to the Vatican over remarks by Pope Benedict XVI on Coptic Christians. Benedict said the attack was “yet another sign of the urgent need for the governments of the region to adopt effective measures for the protection of religious minorities.” Egyptian Minister of Legal Affairs and Parliamentary Councils Mohfid Shehab denied any link between the attack on the Two Saints Church in Alexandria and moves to meet Coptic demands. He said Coptic demands have existed since the early 19th century, since the Ottoman Empire established the Hayamoni line which restricted the building and repair of churches. He insisted that Copts are part of Egypt's social solidarity, where Muslims and Copts stand side-by-side and are equally treated, thus their demands would be met. He explained that the demands of the Copts come within the framework of political and social development, which is being discussed currently. Shehab pointed out that the constitution was amended in 2007 where its first article concerning citizenship was altered to assert that both Muslims and Copts are treated equally; thus Coptic demands would be met. BM
