CAIRO: A unified law for building houses of worship will be drafted and a law criminalizing the use of religious slogans in electoral campaigns will be activated, the Cabinet said Wednesday. The Cabinet decided to establish a national justice committee to fight against sectarian strife, in a bid to ease sectarian tensions following the Imbaba clashes, which left 12 dead. The committee will address issues related to sectarian tensions in Egypt, propose solutions and execute them swiftly, according to a statement published on the Cabinet's website on Wednesday. The committee is assigned to draft a law incriminating all kinds of discrimination among Egyptians and guaranteeing their rights and freedoms, according to the constitutional declaration announced by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) in March. It will also be responsible for drafting a bill of a unified law for building houses of worship. The committee is given a time frame of 30 days to complete these two tasks. The Cabinet stated that the findings of investigations related to recent sectarian crimes including the bombing in front of the Church of the Two Saints in Alexandria, the burning of the Sol Church in Atfif, and the recent clashes in Imbaba, must be announced to the public. The Virgin Church in Imbaba, Maghagha diocese and El Edwa Church in Minia are to be rebuilt and restored, according to the statement. The Cabinet will respond to demands to re-open churches which have been closed after the committee reviews the reasons behind the closures. Protests and gatherings in-front of houses of worship will be banned and laws prohibiting the use of religious slogans in electoral campaigning will be implemented, the statement said. Regarding the law governing political parties, the Cabinet decided to amend two articles during its tenth meeting on Wednesday. The amendments oblige political parties to publish the names of their founders in two national daily newspapers within eight days of sending official notification of their establishment to the political parties committee. Any objection to the establishment of the party must be presented to the political parties committee within three days of publishing its founders' names. The objection must be backed by justifications and documents, in order to be considered by the committee. The party is considered official after 33 days of publishing its founders' names, if no objection is submitted against it. The Cabinet also agreed to implement the project for science and technology, previously proposed by Egyptian Nobel Laureate in chemistry Ahmed Zewail. The project includes the establishment of a city, a university and a non-profit institution for science and technology. The Cabinet will issue a decree assigning a board of trustees to draft the general policies of the project. The governor of the city and the president of the university will also be appointed by a decree from the Cabinet. Two hundred and seventy two acres of land in Sheikh Zayed will be allocated to the project.
