Akhbār al-Yawm

The writer suggest that because Egyptian Muslims and Christians have protected their religious beliefs from changes and corruption, they have succeeded in maintaining Egypt as a nation until the present time.

To realize how Egyptians received the Islamic Conquest, we should know the fact that many Egyptians converted to Christianity earlier than Romans and Byzantines who were still atheists during the time they were occupying Egypt. Being occupied and governed by atheists, Egyptian Christians had been suffering and some of them had been tortured to death by their rulers, until the time Islam came to Egypt.

Historians have differed in exploring the character of Al-Muqawqus and the role he played although he was ’the focal figure’ during the Islamic conquest to Egypt. Dr. Hassan Ibrahim Hassan, professor of Islamic history collected the historians’ ideas about Al-Muqawqus.

Fourteen centuries have passed since the Islamic conquest of Egypt and the first meeting between the conquering Arabs and Egyptian Copts. The article discusses the conquest of Egypt, and the relationships between the Copts and the invading army of Arabs.

Daniel Kurtzer, US Ambassador to Cairo, said relations between Egypt and the USA
are excellent, and President Clinton cares about discussing the latest development in the region with President Hosni Mubarak. He said he himself assured that what happened in Al-Koshh has nothing to do with persecution of Copts. Copts are peacefully living with Muslims in Egypt. They are persecuted neither by the government nor by the Egyptians.

Dr. Mustafa Kamal Helmy, the chairman of the Shura Council and the Higher Council for Journalism, asserted that there is no truth to the allegations that there are disputes between Muslims and Copts in Egypt.

Briefing on New York Churches council’s visit to Egypt saying Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt are very different from what is said and published in the USA.