CAIRO: Marsa Matrouh community and religious leaders will meet on Wednesday for reconciliation talks under the auspicious of Marsa Matrouh governor, to discuss ways to curb sectarian violence that struck the coastal governorate recently. Several Coptic figures, however, are skeptical of the reconciliation talks, claiming that they are skirting the issue instead of directly tackling it. Last Friday, clashes broke out in Masra Matrouh as Christians built a fence to connect a piece of land to a building affiliated with a church, leaving 24 people injured. The area's Muslim residents allegedly attacked the church, trapping a number of Copts inside, believing this was a step to expand the church. The Marsa Matrouh prosecution detained 30 suspects - four of which are Muslim - for 15 days pending investigations. According to preliminary talks held on Monday, Copts will be compensated for the damaged property. We reject common-law reconciliation meetings because they fail to tackle the problem which leads to the acts being repeated and fails to punish the perpetrators or the instigators, Naguib Gobrael, head of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights Organization told Daily News Egypt. Wednesday s talks will include Marsa Matrouh Governor Ahmed Hussein, Bishop Makhomios of Beheira and Matrouh, security officials, MPs and heads of local councils.
