Pope’s remarks: Egypt recalls envoy from Vatican

Egypt dismisses Pope's call for more protection of Christian minorities as "unacceptable interference".

CAIRO: Egypt dismissed Pope Benedict’s call for more protection of Christian minorities as “unacceptable interference” on Tuesday as it summoned its Vatican ambassador back to Cairo for consultation.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church on Monday condemned attacks on churches that killed dozens of people in Egypt, Iraq and Nigeria, saying they showed the need to adopt effective measures to protect religious minorities.

“Egypt asked its ambassador in the Vatican to come to Cairo for consultation after the Vatican’s statements that Egypt considers an unacceptable interference in its internal affairs,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hossam Zaki said.

“Cairo is keen to communicate with the Vatican after its statements following the incident in Alexandria,” he added.

A New Year bombing outside a church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria left 23 people dead and dozens injured.

Egyptian officials insist they are capable of protecting all citizens and said there are indications that “foreign elements” were behind the blast. An Iraqi group linked to al Qaeda threatened in November to attack Egyptian Christians.

A spokesperson for Egypt’s highest Islamic authority al Azhar, Mohamed Rafah el Tahtawi, said it appreciated Pope Benedict’s call for protection of Christian minorities in Middle Eastern countries but added, “We consider the protection of Christians an internal affair that their governments should handle”.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2011.