Written question asked by James Clappison (Conservative) on Thursday, 29 January 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 2 February 2009. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Thursday, 12 February 2009 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Egypt: Religious Freedom

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of (a) attacks on the Abu Fana monastery in Egypt and (b) the risk of attacks on the Coptic community in Egypt; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: The Government have received reports of an incident which occurred at the Abu Fana Coptic monastery on 31 May 2008. The incident concerned the building of a wall on agricultural land disputed by the local village, Deir Abu Fana and the monastery. The dispute became violent when a mob attacked the monastery, killing a local resident. Two monastery workers suffered bullet wounds, two monks suffered injuries and three monks were taken by the mob and badly beaten. I understand that the disagreement has been settled through customary informal negotiations. We understand that no one has been brought to trial and 15 people remain in detention.With at least 8 million Coptic Christians in Egypt, creating tolerance between Coptic and Muslim communities is essential. The Egyptian President is personally involved in efforts to promote tolerance and inter-faith harmony, and has taken steps to promote and protect the rights of Christian, such as appointing Christians to parliament and other senior government posts (including the Head of the National Council for Human Rights). But sectarian tension and discrimination does sometimes exist at grass roots level. We regularly raise our concerns about human rights with the Egyptian government, and will continue to do so.

Secondary information