During the opening session of the Christian-Muslim conference arranged by the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services, the Ministry of Endowments [and Islamic Affairs,] and the Azhar, it was agreed that Egypt is a lenient country whose Christians were never a racial minority as claimed by American reports.
Present at the opening session were sheikh Fawzi Al-Zafzaf, head of the Muslim-Christian debate between the Azhar and Vatican; sheikh Mahmoud Ashour, deputy of the Azhar; sheikh Sayyed Wafa, secretary general of the Islamic Research Institute; Dr. Abdel-Rashid Salim, adviser to the minister of Endowments [and Islamic Affairs;] and more than 120 Islamic and Christian clergymen, university professors, intellectuals and media figures. The conference is part of a cultural program which will continue for one year...
[Translators note: A similar news item was published in Sout Al-Azhar, June 29, 2001 (p.1)]
