CAIRO: The International Coptic Conference, which was held in Chicago Oct. 19-20 by the Coptic Assembly of America ended with an issued statement including a number of resolutions. Titled "The Coptic Movement: A New Approach, the conference, aimed to find ways of modernizing the Coptic movement and improving the situation of Copts in Egypt. Grievances among Egypt's Copts, the statement said, arose primarily from inequality and discrimination ingrained within official state policy, the media and the education system. This was also the case in changes of belief, building places of worship, and the application of Egyptian civil law, it said. The statement noted that this had partially resulted from the growth of Wahhabi Islam in Egypt, and its infiltration into state bodies and other Egyptian institutions. To rectify this, the statement called for activating the articles of the constitution that affirm the equal rights of all citizens, and emphasized the need to review any articles that contradict this principle. Another resolution called for pressuring the state to ensure freedom of religion and to discard any discriminatory practices based on religion. Regarding media and education, the statement called for a purge of all discriminatory materials that "incite disrespect for non-Muslims, and pushed for greater Coptic presence in the state-owned media. Achieving higher Coptic representation in senior government, intelligence and military posts was of utmost importance, the statement said, and would engender greater trust between Copts and the government. It also urged Copts to become more politically active, unite in their demands, exercise their constitutional rights and engage in general and local trade union elections. To this end, it added, Coptic businessmen should use their resources to fund the Coptic movement as well as research centers dedicated to the community. The conference's president Camille Halim deleted one resolution from the statement, which called on the church to provide financial support to congressmen in order to lobby for Coptic issue in the US Congress. The request for its deletion was made by Naguib Gibrail, head of the Egyptian Federation for Human Rights, who felt it amounted to foreign intervention in Egypt's affairs. A number of Copts in Egypt had protested the conference on these grounds. "The Copts in Egypt face many problems in their country. (but) these can only be solved from within the country, not from outside, Ikrami Lamie, head of media office at the Evangelical church, had earlier told Daily News Egypt. Speaking to Daily News Egypt from Chicago, Medhat Klada, a spokesman for the conference, dismissed the objections. "This is propaganda against our rights, but it is not important, it won't have any effect, he said.
