Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

The Azhar vehemently rejected the setting up of a so-called Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), asserting that the top Sunni Muslim establishment is the only Muslim reference concerned with religious affairs in Egypt. [Author Not Mentioned, al-Ahrām, Jan. 5, p. 14] Read original text in Arabic

Much of this week's coverage was dedicated to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Prime Minister, and his visits to Egypt in which he promoted interfaith dialogue and the concept of a secular state. He met with leaders of Azhar, officials from the Coptic Church and various political representatives.

A crisis erupted in the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral after altar boys attacked protesters who were demonstrating for second marriage in Wāyily, 'Abbāssīyah.

The January 25 revolution has highlighted many controversial issues, one of which being second marriage for Copts – around 3,000 Copts have been protesting about this topic.

However, with the refusal of Pope Shenouda III, Patriarch of Alexandria and Head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, angry demonstrators have moved to protest at the office of Anbā Bola in 'Abbāssīyah.

After sit-ins by hundreds of protesters at St. Mark Cathedral in 'Abbāssīyah, Bishop Bīsantī

of Helwan has said that the matter of civil marriage lies in the hands of Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and head of the Coptic Orthodox church.

The National Council for Human Rights has launched an investigation into the events that occurred in 'Abbāssīyah, where 309 protesters were injured after what seemed like an ambush from civilians, before beginning their march. According to evidence uncovered during the investigation, knives and other bladed weapons, as well as Molotov cocktails, were used against the protesters.

Najīb Jabrā’īl, a Coptic lawyer and the head of the Egyptian Federation for Human Rights and Pope Shenouda III, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, met on Wednesday morning to discuss the deteriorating situation of the Clerical Council, and the increasing number of cases it is receiving – in its last session, it saw 7500 cases.

Copts calling for remarriage staged a sit-in surrounding the Clerical Council in 'Abāsīyah on Monday, protesting the Coptic Orthodox Church's refusal to grant them the right to remarry.

Shaykh Hāfiz Salāmah, the leader of the popular resistance forces in the governorate of Suez, said the awqāf ministry failed to respect the court ruling to hand over al-Nūr mosque to the al-Hidāyah al-Islāmīyah Society, which he chairs.

"The ministry has been a total failure in running mosques, causing a setback in those mosques but in the end the ministry had to give up and try find qualified preachers," said Salāmah in an interview with Ahmad al-Buhayrī and Amal 'Abās of al-Misrī al-Yawm.

He noted that the U.S. ambassador in Cairo, Margaret Scobey, has met the awqāf minister. "The meeting raised many question marks. Perhaps the U.S. government was disturbed by the return of al-Nūr mosque to Hāfiz Salāmah and the salafists."

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Shaykh Ahmad Turk, the imām of al-Nūr mosque in the Cairo district of al-'Abasīyah, warned against the outbreak of clashes and acts of violence between worshippers and followers of Shaykh Hāfiz Salāmah, after the Friday prayers every week in disputes over the mosque.

Turk, in an interview with al-Misrī al-Yawm newspaper, said he has filed a report to the public prosecutor accusing Shaykh Salāmah and another salafī cleric, Dr. 'Umar 'Abd al-'Azīz, of incitation to kill him after the Friday prayers and use of force to prevent him from ascending the pulpit of al-Nūr mosque.

Some men armed with knives threatened workers and worshippers inside the mosque against any attempt to allow preachers from the awqāf ministry to ascend the sermon pulpit in the mosque, he said.

Read original text in Arabic