Religious intolerance feared to be on the rise in Egypt

By Lachlan Carmichael

KOSHEH, Egypt (AFP): The deadly Muslim-Christian clashes that occurred a month ago in Kosheh have raised fears that Egypt is heading down a dangerous slope of religious intolerance.

Some analysts say the violence in Kosheh is evidence that although the government has crushed Islamic militant groups, it has failed to prevent their ideas from taking root in much of the Nile Valley.

These ideas have in turn provoked fanatical reactions from the Coptic Christian minority, they said.

In interviews from Cairo to the deep southern town of Kosheh, many Egyptians voiced mistrust and scorn for the other religion, while others said Egypt enjoyed religious harmony and that Kosheh was an isolated incident.

Coptic writer Milad Hanna, who lives in Cairo, insisted the violence which claimed 22 lives here on Jan. 2, almost all of them Copt, flows from growing intolerance manifested in alien "Beduin fundamentalism."

"It is a herald to the nation," Hanna warned.

Hanna, who won the 1988 International Simon Bolivar prize for promoting tolerance and once chaired a housing committee for President Hosni Mubarak, called for a government-led media and educational drive against intolerance.

Salama Ahmed Salama, the managing editor and columnist for the government daily Al-Ahram, agreed that a campaign had to be conducted on television and in the schools to reverse what he saw as growing intolerance.

Intolerance has grown since Islamists gained strength in the 1970s as late president Anwar Sadat backed them to undermine the Nasserites.

Salama, a Muslim, added that some Copts have reacted with a fanaticism of their own and warned that pressure from Coptic groups in the United States could backfire by stirring more suspicion from Muslims.

Makarios Yusef Labib, a Coptic priest, agrees that such pressure will only cause problems.

Father Makarios said religious leaders can resolve what he dismissed as minor sectarian disputes, then escorted AFP to a mosque in the city of Abu Qurqas to meet a sheikh whom he embraced for a photograph.

The two recalled how a recent dispute between a Muslim and Christian family was resolved over tea.

But Hanna and Salama insisted that such methods at finding solutions were not enough, nor was the government's heavy reliance on the security forces.

Bishop Wissa, whose diocese includes Kosheh, thinks the security forces in Kosheh were part of the problem and accused them of either turning a blind eye or giving the green light for Muslims to attack Copts.

He spoke of lingering anger over the fact that no police were punished for allegedly torturing and mistreating 1,000 Copts during a murder investigation two years ago.

Both sides blamed each other for starting a Dec. 31 dispute in a Coptic shop that led two days later to the killings in this poor, dusty town where Christians form a majority of the 35,000 inhabitants, a rare case in Egypt.

The Muslims also accused a priest of leading the attack on the market and opening fire on unarmed Muslims, prompting the authorities to issue a warrant for his arrest.

The accusations are preposterous, the Christians say.

Rumors also swirled among Muslims that the wealthier Coptic community was plotting to buy up the town's remaining Muslim homes, as well as provide church money to start businesses that refuse to deal with Muslims.

Muslims in Cairo have also complained about Coptic wealth.

Copts, particularly those in the former militant stronghold of Asyut, said they were enjoying better times than they were ten years ago as the government crushed Islamic militants and endorsed freer economic policies.

But the Copts, most of whom refused to give their full name, still voiced mistrust.

They also said they only indirectly benefited from new economic policies adopted by a government that still discriminates against them in the state bureaucracy, police and army, education system, and other areas.

Many Copts do well in trade and business, they say, because they have so few other choices.

Salama said greater democracy would allow Egyptians to vent frustrations outside of religious channels and permit Copts to increase their representation in public life.

But more Koshehs could occur if the government fails to make changes and "go deep into the roots of the problem," Salama warned.