UK's Ambassador to Egypt, James Watt, wrote a blog post about what he thinks of the Maspiro clashes that took place on October 9. He discusses sectarian strife in Egypt that continues to cause problems in the security of Egypt. James Watt has been UK ambassador to Egypt since March 2011. The following is his blog post, entitled the ‘Cancer of Hatred,' posted on October 13: “The violent deaths last Sunday in Cairo in the clashes involving Coptic demonstrators, the Army and unknown armed attackers have shaken the political debate in Egypt, and caused shock waves around the world. How could such an event happen in a country in which the great majority of the population believe in and live religious tolerance and peaceful relations within society? As with all shocks, the questions it raises cast a new light of things that were always there but which had been ignored and denied. In this case, the deep fear of Egypt's Christians of systematic bias against them, and denial of their right to the equal protection of the state and equality before the law. Today's press in Cairo spells out the long series of violent incidents against the Copts which had gone unchecked over many years. There should have been no need for young Coptic demonstrators to feel they had to raise their community's protest against persistent insecurity. Nor to do this in a way which allowed criminal extremists to provoke a bloody conflict between them and the Army, whose soldiers were there simply to keep order. The government has moved quickly to announce that it will correct the legal discrimination against Egypt's Christians. And to promise an enquiry into the events of 9 October. Equality before the law will need to be implemented in practice by the courts and by government officials. I also think more needs to be done to denounce and condemn the evil attitudes that lie behind sectarian prejudice and contempt for human rights. Egypt has in abundance the moral and social values, deeply rooted in its own Christian and Muslim culture, to reject the mindless hatred which takes the form of sectarianism. This hatred is alien to Egypt and alien to true religion. It is the behaviour that every civilised person despises and will unite to oppose.”
