CAIRO: Raafat Saleeb, a leader of the Copts of the United States of America and resident of Los Angeles, issued a press release on Tuesday, on behalf of the Egyptian Copts in America, emphasizing that after considering the presidential candidates` electoral programs, and “their political, economic and background amd practical experience, they found that all candidates are loyal to their homeland, but at this important stage in the history of Egypt, acts are more important than speeches.” That was the prelude to a statement that already has many Copts in Egypt frustrated and angry. “It is simply unacceptable,” said one Copt, Farid, when Bikyamasr.com showed him the statement, which threw its support behind former Egypt President Hosni Mubarak's strongman and Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq. The statement from Saleeb explained that Egypt now needs a president “who can restore security and stability of this nation, and to establish a democratic civil state to ensure every citizen a decent life in an atmosphere of freedom, democracy and social justice, and respect for all Egyptians, all sects, whether they are Muslims or Christians, men or women.” The statement added that the right person to lead Egypt is Presidential Candidate Ahmed Shafiq, with his “proud history as commander of the Air Force and the Minister of Civil Aviation.” The Coptic Solidarity Organization headed by the American Coptic activist Magdy Khalil and Adel Al-Gendi, the Coptic activist in France, also declared their support for Shafiq in the presidential elections. The Washington-based organization said in a statement released Tuesday that “there are a number of figures which belongs to the post-revolution movements that the organization see as ineligible for the current phase, as there are candidates with good principles and political experience, but a vote for them would lead, in any case, to splitting the votes in favor of the advocates of a religious state.” Activists in Egypt have demanded Shafiq be removed from eligibility for the country's top job as he was a member of the former regime and should have been ousted from his candidacy in an April ruling that banned former members of the Mubarak government from entering politics for five years.
