Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

In an attempt to ease the tension between protesters in al-Tahrīr square and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), 65 activists and public figures suggest opening up nominations for presidential candidates on 25 January, closing the nomination period on the anniversary of former President Husnī Mubārak's resignation on 11 February. [Author Not Mentioned, al-Misrī al-Yawm, Dec. 25, p. 1] Read original text in Arabic 

An advertisement of the Italian clothing company Benetton featuring Pope Benedict XVI kissing the Shaykh Al-Azhar has provoked a storm of angry reactions in Italy and the company was forced to remove it almost immediately.

Bishop Stephanus of Bibā said Copts in Egypt have been going through their toughest time in many centuries, adding the Coptic Orthodox Church needs help.

More than 4500 Copts, particularly after the Maspero incidents, have lately signed a written request for the Canadian prime minister and government and urged them to take a stance to "rescue the Coptic people from persecution by the army".

Political activist Abrām Dāwūd, an expatriate Copt and the person who has launched the signature campaign in Egypt and Canada, said that the Canadian government should act now in order to spare the Copts the bad treatment they receive (in Egypt).

"Condemnation is no longer enough. Canada has to allow Copts immigration to Canada and grant them access to the Canadian refugees program," said Dāwūd.

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The salafists, who had no presence before the January 25 revolution, are now preoccupying the public opinion and the mass media. Some of them are making quite a fuss from time to time like Mustafá Tamām, a salafī shaykh in Beni Suef.

The Coalition for the Support of New Muslims continues its support for Shaykh Abū Yahyá, who was arrested on charges of sparking fitnah in the Virgin Mary Church in Imbābah.

Dr. Husām Abū al-Najārī, member of the Coalition, said that Shaykh Abū Yahyá was just a scapegoat to calm the public.

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The independent newspaper Sawt al-Ummah published a collection of opinions by salafī clerics in one week, beginning with Dr. Yāsir Burhāmī, a senior salafist in Alexandria, who said that the Copts are kāfirs (disbelievers) and accordingly they have to pay the jizyah.

Shaykh Muhammad al-Zughbī said banks are harām (religiously impermissible). "Whoever deposits his/her money in banks are sinners," he said, adding songs and handshaking women awaken sexual desire.

Shaykh Muhammad Raslān viewed that the January 25 revolution was a Zionist-Masonic plan, while Shaykh Mahmūd 'Āmir said the trial of (former President Husnī) Mubārak is against the Muslim faith but agreed with exporting natural gas to Israel.

Another salafist, Shaykh 'Umar al-Qurashī, said that liberalism is synonymous with "nudism".

[Reviewer's note: The article has no link on the Internet]

Ahmad Muhammad 'Alī, a Muslim man for five years now before he quit Christianity, revealed to Sawt al-Ummah newspaper that Butrus Butrus Jayyid, the nephew of Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III and the Priest of al-Zaytūn Church, tried to kill him.

After getting a verdict of separation from her Christian husband, 'Abīr Tal'at Fakhrī's [allegedly kidnaped by the church] lawyer filed a new report with the Public prosecutor accusing the priest of of Saint Mina Church in Imbābah of kidnapping her and keeping her in a house attached to the church and sparking fitnah.

The report showed that the priest released 'Abīr after the clashes erupted between salafists and Copts and before opening fire by 'Ādil Labīb, one of the suspects, which indicates that the priest was the sedition-monger in these incidents.

Major General Mamdūh Muqalad, the head of the prosecution office in al-Minya governorate said that the Ministry of Interior Affairs are exerting its effort in three governorates (Cairo, Minya, and Asyut) to find two Christian women who disappeared in Nazlat 'Abdīn village in Minya on Sunday, June 12, 2011.