CAIRO: About 500 Coptic protestors clashed with security officials Tuesday at the North Coast resort of Marina, an eyewitness told Daily News Egypt. "The conflict was over a piece of land that the Church had bought five years ago and acquired a license to build a church on, but the Marsah Matrouh governorate revoked it, Hafez Abu Saeda, director of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) told Daily News Egypt. Priest Anglos Ishaq, was quoted in Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper as saying that security officials arrested some of the demonstrators. The protest began at 10 am, a Coptic eyewitness and one of the 11 detained by police told Daily News Egypt on condition of anonymity. He explained that that the clash began when Christians staying in Marina found out that the tourist company that had bought their land was beginning construction and road works. "The land is about 5,000 square meters, said Ishaq. "The Church bought it from the Ministry of Housing for the express purpose of building a church. He explained that the church had paid 25 percent of the price of the land when, all of a sudden, they discovered that 4,000 square meters were re-sold by the Marsah Matrouh governorate to a tourism development company. The remaining 1,000 square meters were allocated to the Marina Shores protection unit. At around 4 pm, the police started picking up people indiscriminately. I had nothing to do with what was going on. I was only there to get a female friend out of the clashes, said the eyewitness. He then explained how he was suddenly hurled into a police car and taken to Al-Hammam police station with 11 others who were asked us about their names, ages and addresses, and detained until 9 pm. He added that they were given no food or water until their release. Daily News Egypt contacted the office of the governor of Marsah Matrouh for a statement, but was told that the Matrouh governorate had nothing to do with the matter and referred Daily News Egypt to the Alamein office. However General Mostafa Al Abbady, deputy head of the Alamein office, told the Daily News Egypt that he was too busy to comment on the issue. Abu Saeda who had personally been following the conflict since it began, said that the government should work on implementing a law regulating permissions to build churches and mosques. There should be a clear policy and system concerning land that acquires licenses to build churches so that no governorate can have the authority to revoke any license, Abu Saeda said. Two months ago The National Council for Human Rights held a roundtable talk to discuss the laws regulating permissions to build churches and mosques. Abu Saeda told Daily News Egypt in a previous interview that the meeting discussed the new law suggested by that the National Council for Human Rights, asking that equal conditions be made for the construction of all types of religious buildings. The request, which I see as fair, provides equality to all citizens, Abu Saeda said. Saad Zaghloul, a Coptic appeals lawyer, told Daily News Egypt in a previous interview that no regulations have been implemented in the constitution regarding equality in building churches and mosques since a law that was issued in the 1800s during the Mohamed Ali era. But until now, according to Egyptian law, the license to build a new church is in the hands of the President, Abu Saeda said. According to Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, when Priest Salib Mattah Sawiris, member of the Coptic Holy Synod, told Pope Shonouda about the incident, the Cathedral contacted the president s office and asked Zakaria Azmy, chairman of the presidential council to interfere. Abu Saeda explicitly indicated that a new law to regulate permissions to build churches should be debated in the People s Assembly (PA). Sobhy Saleh, a Muslim Brotherhood MP told Daily News Egypt in a previous interview that the problem is more legal than political. The government and the Ministry of Justice should get themselves out of the issue and leave it to the legal system which should devise suitable rules and verdicts with no discrimination between Muslims and Christians, Saleh said.
