CAIRO: Arab tribes and Abo Fana Monastery monks have started marking the disputed borders around the monastery which had led to a series of violent clashes between Muslims and Christians in Minya in May, according to the Middle East News Agency (MENA). The move comes on the heels of a settlement they reached on Aug. 13. The Coptic Church in Minya and the Arabs had agreed that the Abo Fana Monastery would waive ownership of 25 acres of agriculture land and 70 acres of non-agricultural land, bringing the total land area cover by the monastery to 505 acres instead of an original 600 acres. In exchange, the Arab tribes approved the building of a wall marking the territory belonging to the monastery. They also agreed to have those among them who were involved in the clashes to go on trial without access to appeals by civil society councils, reported MENA. The two parties signed the agreement at the home of tribesman Abdel-Qader Abdel-Rehim, in the presence of MP Alaa Hassanein and other members of the arbitration committee. The committee had convened to investigate the attack on the monastery and settle the dispute, A number of state security officials were also present during the settlement. At the end of May, clashes over land surrounding the Abo Fana Monastery in Mallawi, broke out between monks and some 60 Bedouins living in the Qasr Hur village adjacent to the monastery. The attack was apparently sparked by a wall being built around the monastery. Although the monks claimed that monastery had received official approval for the wall it began building around the neighboring property, Muslim residents protested, saying that the wall would damage the crops on their adjacent agricultural land. They also claimed ownership of the the land surrounding the monastery. During the clashes, Khalil Mohammed Ibrahim was killed and two novices from the monastery were taken to a hospital in the nearby town of Mallawi in critical condition after allegedly being beaten and kidnapped. Coptic Pope Shenouda III, approved the settlement while still away for medical treatment in the United States. According to MENA, he agreed on the settlement to safeguard social harmony in Egypt and not to give the opportunity for anyone to take advantage of the situation in order to tarnish Egypt's image, adding that Egypt will always be immune from attempts to create sectarian rifts between its citizens.
