Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

Grand Shaykh of the Azhar Dr. Ahmad al-Tayīb said the new constitution will of Egypt will add in its second article a phrase granting non-Muslims to have recourse to their own laws in matters of personal status. [Muhammad ‘Abd al-Khāliq, al-Ahrām, May 15, p. 1] Read original text in Arabic

Copts’ concerns about the growing power of Islamists brought them to back candidates from the former regime like Ahmad Shafīq, the last prime minister in the Husnī Mubārak tenure, and ‘Amr Mūsá, the former minister of foreign affairs and former secretary-general of the Arab League, according to a report by the U.S. newspaper The Washington Post. [Shaymā’ ‘Amr, al-Misryūn, May 14, p. 4] Read text in Arabic

Ten days before Egyptians go to ballot stations to elect the first post-revolution president, eyes are set on voting blocs whose trends are going to be a decisive factor in the results. [Ahmad Rahīm, al-Hayāt, May 13, p. 5] Read original text in Arabic

Copts are partners in the nation for 14 centuries now and there will be no more discrimination between Muslims and Copts as both will be equal in the eye of the law, said presidential candidate Dr. Muhammad Salīm al-‘Awā at the Mar Girgis Church in Kūm Hamādah, al-Beheira governorate on Thursday (May 10). [Tāmir ‘Abd al-Ra’ūf and Nādir Mahmūd Tammān, al-Ahrām, May 11, p. 4] read original text in Arabic

Public business sector company Benzion said it is currently negotiating with some U.S. companies to export a photo of deceased Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III in his last farewell. [Muhammad ‘Abd al-‘Ātī, al-Misrī al-Yawm, May 12, p. 20] Read original text in Arabic

Presidential candidate Husām Khayr Allāh said if he won the elections, he would set up a ministry for Coptic religious affairs to regulate the building of churches and other pending issues suffered by Copts in Egypt. [‘Amr Jalāl and Mukhlis ‘Abd al-Haī, al-Akhbār, May 10, p. 5] Read text in Arabic

Presidential candidate Khālid ‘Alī said he is not in favor of a unified law regulating construction of houses of worship due to conditions that might be proper for churches and improper for mosques, adding this law could give rise to sectarian troubles. [Shādyah Yūsuf, al-Ahrām, May 9, p. 4] Read original text in Arabic

The bay'ah, or pledge of allegiance, inside the Muslim Brotherhood is not just a traditional ritual but rather a covenant and commitment. One of the most important means of going up the ladder of ranks in the group, the oath is not easy to be broken. [Author Not Mentioned, al-Misrī al-Yawm, May 8, p. 16] Read original text in Arabic

A conference on president election criteria held by several Coptic organizations on Sunday (May 6) was marred by splits and squabbles after Dr. Sharīf Dūs, Chairman of the General Coptic Organization in Egypt (GCOE), expressed support for presidential candidate ‘Abd al-Mun’im Abū al-Futūh. [‘Abd al-Wahāb Sha’bān, al-Wafd, May 7, p. 1] read text in Arabic

Local residents in the village of Banī Ghālib in Assiut arrested a 23-year-old Coptic young man and handed him over to police for distributing circulars propagating conversion to Christianity. [Ahmad al-Ansārī, al-Misryūn, May 4, p. 1] Read original text in Arabic