CAIRO — It was one of Egypt's most sensational murders: Deep in the desert, a bishop was allegedly bludgeoned with a metal pipe. Suspicion fell on two monks, turning a spotlight on a cloistered world of intrigue within the nation's Coptic Christian priesthood.
Pope Francis prays for Egyptian Copts who died in attacks near Cairo
The Associated Press
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has prayed for the victims of attacks on Copts in Egypt.
Francis expressed closeness Sunday to “the Orthodox Copt brothers” of Egypt after the attacks two days earlier in a Cairo suburb. At least nine people died in the attack on a church and on a nearby store that was owned by a Copt.
Among those killed last Friday in an attack on Coptic Christians that resulted in 30 deaths was 66-year-old Atef Mounir Zaki, who had recently renovated a local mosque for free.
According to Coptic academic Iz Tawfiq, who spoke with the website Al Arabiya, Zaki was a renovations contractor from the town of Abou Karkass in the Minia district where the attack on a bus of Coptic pilgrims occurred last Friday. Zaki was also used to provide equipment and workers to construction sites.
الهيئة القبطية الهولندية تلتقى برئيس البرلمان الأوروبى ورئيس المفوضية
المصدر:الأهرام اليومى
بقلم: شادية يوسف
تعقد الهيئة القبطية الهولندية، أكبر لقاء رسمى داخل البرلمان الأوروبي، نهاية العام الجاري، بعد موافقة أعضاء البرلمان الأوروبى على الجلسة الرسمية، للهيئة القبطية الهولندية بعقد الجلسة داخل البرلمان الأوروبى ببروكسل بحضور كبار رجال الأعمال الأقباط والمنظمات القبطية بأوروبا ومراسلى الصحف الاجنبية والمصرية.
وتؤكد الهيئة أنها حصلت على موافقة رسمية من البرلمان الاوروبى بعقد الجلسة وبحضورعدد من اعضاء البرلمان الأوروبى للمطالبة بإدراج وحظر أنشطة جماعة الإخوان المسلمين فى أوروبا وتصيحيح الصورة المشوهة ضد مصر لدى دول الاتحاد الأوروبي.
ويشارك فى هذا اللقاء بهاء رمزى رئيس الهيئة القبطية الهولندية والمنظم العام للمؤتمر وسامح سوريال نائب رئيس الهيئة القبطية والدكتور إبراهيم حبيب رئيس أقباط متحدون بريطانيا وعصام عبيد المتحدث الرسمى للهيئة القبطية الهولندية، والناشط جمال جرجس والناشط جون سدراك رئيس اللجنة السياسية للهيئة القبطية الهولندية والناشط حسنى بباوى منظمة أقباط النمسا والعديد من المنظمات القبطية بأوروبا وعدد كبير من ممثلى المنظمنات القبطية الاقباط بأوروبا ورجال الأعمال ووسائل الإعلام المصرية والأوروبية كما سيتم الإعلان عن جميع الاسماء فى مؤتمر صحفى الشهر المقبل.
In a speech on New Year’s day, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for a “religious revolution” in Islam that would displace violent jihad from the center of Muslim discourse.
“Is it possible that 1.6 billion people (Muslims worldwide) should want to kill the rest of the world’s population—that is, 7 billion people—so that they themselves may live?” he asked. “Impossible.”
Mother of Egyptian-British activist expresses fears over hunger strike
By Syndicated Content
May 13, 2022 | 8:07 AM
CAIRO (Reuters) – The mother of a renowned Egyptian activist who recently gained British citizenship says she fears she may not see him alive again as he approaches the end of the sixth week of a hunger strike over prison conditions.
Laila Soueif said that during a visit to her son Alaa Abd el-Fattah in prison in Cairo on Thursday an officer warned that he could block her from visiting again after she complained about alleged violations against Abd el-Fattah.
وكان رامى كامل انهىء فترة الحبس الاحتياطى القانونية قبل شهر ولكن تم التجديد له 45 يوما اخر خارج إطار القانون، ولكن اليوم تم الاستجابة للمعارضات التى قدمت ضد قرار التجديد وتم الإفراج عنه ليعود الى منزله وسط افراح لاسرته واصدقائه
Egyptian researcher’s mother ‘jumping for joy’ after court orders release
Patrick Zaki was detained last year and still faces charges of ‘spreading false news’
A protester holds up a picture of Patrick Zaki at a demonstration in Naples, Italy. Photograph: Ivan Romano/Getty Images
Agence France-Presse in Cairo
An Egyptian court has ordered the release of researcher Patrick Zaki, whose detention in February last year sparked international condemnation, particularly in Italy where he had been studying, his family said.
“I’m jumping for joy!” his mother, Hala Sobhi, told AFP. “We’re now on our way to the police station in Mansoura,” a city in Egypt’s Nile Delta, where Zaki is from.
The Queen has sent a message of support to Coptic Christians at the annual Coptic New Year service in London.
In a statement read at St Margaret's Church in Westminster, the Queen said it was an "opportunity to remember all those around the world who suffer hardship on account of their faith, especially in recent times. They remain in our thoughts and prayers."
Egypt and Sudan welcome UN’s support for mediation to solve GERD issue
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly (L) receives his Sudanese counterpart Abdalla Hamdok in the Egyptian capital Cairo, on March 11, 2021. (AFP)
President El-Sisi highlights depth of strategic relations and ties with people of Nile Valley
Egypt is supporting Sudan in light of the transitional phase it is going through, which requires other countries’ help to enhance its stability
CAIRO: Egypt and Sudan have welcomed the announcement by the UN secretary-general supporting the quartet mediation initiative to solve the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issue.
The Prime Minister spoke with the President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi this evening.
The leaders welcomed the strength of the UK and Egypt’s relationship and the breadth of areas on which there was good cooperation, including trade and investment, education and defence and security.
We are proud of our defence of rights of Egyptians and call on all those keen on human rights in Egypt and the world to show Solidarity
In a new escalation of the unprecedented crackdown against the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, security forces arrested Gasser Abdel Razek, Executive Director of EIPR, from his home in Maadi and took him to an undisclosed location.
Security forces in the afternoon of Wednesday, 18 November, also arrested Karim Ennarah, EIPR’s Criminal Justice Unit Director, in Dahab, South Sinai, where he was on a short vacation. The arrest took place one day after security forces went to his home in Cairo in his absence. After being questioned at a State Security premise outside Cairo, and after 24 hours had passed, Karim appeared this afternoon on Thursday 19 November before the Supreme State Security Prosecution in Cairo.
Arrest of Reda Abdel Rahman, Professor at the al-Azhar Institute
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) calls for the release of an Azhar teacher
accused of spreading "Quranism" and the end to the prosecution of people with different religious affiliations
EIPR (17.11.2020) - https://bit.ly/3pUoZG9 - The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) called for the release of Reda Abdel Rahman, a teacher at the al-Azhar Institute in Kafr Saqr, Sharqia Governorate, and the dropping of the charges against him and others for publishing what is known as Quranism. Sources from Abdel Rahman's family said that on August 22, 2020, security forces arrested him and seven other relatives, all of them belonging to the family of Ahmed Sobhi Mansour, a former professor at al-Azhar University and a thinker known for adopting the doctrine of Quranism, and the sources added that the security forces asked them questions related to their relationship with Ahmed Sobhi Mansour and the fact that they adopted the doctrine of the Quranists, and released all of them except for Reda Abdel Rahman, who continued to be held in the National Security headquarters in Kafr Saqr.
Religious freedom violators could be targeted under new UK government powers
Marcus Jones
New powers aimed at people involved in serious human rights abuses are being brought in, the Foreign Secretary said.
The UK is bringing in a new regime to target the "worst human rights violators", the Foreign Office has stated.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "From today, the UK will have new powers to stop those involved in serious human rights abuses and violations from entering the UK, channelling money through our banks and profiting from our economy.
Qatar allegedly continues to put out billions of dollars to support and finance terrorist and extremist operations in Europe. International newspapers have reported that Qatar sends its funds through the Qatar Charity Foundation, where they recently provided about 71 million euros to be delivered to the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe under a charitable cover.
It has been stated by various sources the alleged details of Qatar’s plans concerning the participation of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe and the participation of Doha, Qatar in establishing more than 90 centers for the terrorist group in various European countries.
Egypt: 70 churches legalised as church and mosque demolished
Fri 22 May 2020by Heather Preston
The Egyptian Government has legalised 70 churches this week, meaning they cannot be prosecuted for being used for worship.
In Egypt, the construction and renovation of Christian churches is not permitted without first submitting a request to local government for approval.
On Tuesday 19th May, following a meeting of the Government Committee that oversees the legalisation of churches, the decision was issued to legalise 70 church buildings for Christian meetings.
This brings the total number of churches that have been legalised by the committee to 1,638.
Egyptian authorities extend prison sentence of Coptic Christian activist
Thu 07 May 2020by Premier Journalist
A prominent Coptic Christian human rights activists has had his detention extended by a further 45 days by the Egyptian authorities.
Rami Kamil was arrested on 23rd November 2019 after police raided his home in the early hours of the morning. He is known for founding the Maspero Youth Union following the brutal Maspero Massacre in which 27 Christians were killed by the Egyptian military. Following his arrest, it is thought that Kamil was subject to intimdation and relentless questioning. He was subsequently accused of joining a terrorist organisation, receiving foreign funding, disturbing public order, inciting the public against the state, and using social media to incite sectarian tensions between Muslims and Christians.
8 July 2019 (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)
Good morning ladies, gentleman. Welcome to the Foreign Office.
When I was moving house last year, I came across a book called God’s Smuggler which I first read when I was about 10. At the height of the Cold War, Brother Andrew van der Bijl would smuggle Bibles across the Iron Curtain to communist countries where Christianity was ruthlessly suppressed.