CAIRO: Muslims and Christians in Marsa Matrouh signed a reconciliation agreement on Wednesday after sectarian violence struck the coastal governorate last week, injuring 24 people and damaging several houses owned by Copts. The agreement was signed in the presence of Marsa Matrouh Governor Ahmed Hussein; Bishop Makhomios of Beheira and Matrouh; the head of the government s National Democratic Party (NDP) office in Matrouh; the deputy minister of religious endowments; religious leaders from both factions, as well as several security officials. The head of the government s NDP office Ali Khairallah gave Coptic leaders LE 100,000 as compensation for damaged property, which he said was collected in the form of donations from locals including Muslims and Copts under the auspices of his office. Wednesday s signing came after days of preliminary talks between leaders from both sides. The meeting kicked off with a speech by Sheikh Shawky Abdel Latif Ayub, head of religious affairs at the ministry of endowments, warning attendees against citing sectarian tension as the cause of every conflict that occurs between Muslims and Christians. We re all in the same boat; we live on the same land, live under one sky and have been drinking from the same Nile since Islam came to Egypt, he said. Meanwhile, Bishop Makhomios described the incident as simply a familial disagreement . There is no difference between Muslim and Christian. We are all sons and daughters of this country, and the blood of Muslims and Christians was joint together to defend it, adding that everyone, irrespective for their belief, has denounced the violence. Bishop Makhomios also thanked the attendees for their sympathy and for standing in the face of the wrongdoers. Similarly, according to Governor Hussein, what happened cannot be described as sectarian tension. Instead he referred to it as individual acts that could have occurred between two members of the same religion. We are one nation and will not let such small acts divide us. The people of Matrouh will not allow for this to happen again and will maintain peace and harmony between all parties, he said. Hussein said he prefers to refer to the gathering as a meeting aimed at deepening good relations that already exist between both parties, rather than reconciliation talks. In addition, he said that local investors showed interest in taking part in the reconstruction of property damaged during last week s violence. He also instructed local officials to take part in the reconstruction stage. According to Hussein, all but one of the injured had sustained mild injuries and were released in the days that followed the spat. Skeptics of the preliminary reconciliation talks had expressed concern, claiming that such talks are skirting the issue instead of directly tackling it. Naguib Gobrael, head of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights Organization, told Daily News Egypt that he will hold a press conference on Sunday to some of the details of the incident, adding that reconciliation talks undermine the rule of law and tend to disregard the main problem.
