Coptic pope in call for calm

EGYPT:EGYPTIAN COPTIC pope Shenouda III called for calm yesterday as thousands of his flock attended funerals for eight victims of clashes with fundamentalist Muslims. Sectarian riots on Tuesday left 13 dead, scores injured, and the poor Cairo neighbourhood inhabited by Coptic refuse recyclers in ruins.

Presidential candidate Amr Moussa, outgoing head of the Arab League, blamed the clashes on former internal security operatives seeking to mount a counter-revolution and inhibit the popular drive to achieve democracy following the fall of president Hosni Mubarak.

The assault by armed hooligans on democracy movement activists camped on the green areas of Tahrir (Liberation) Square and their forcible expulsion from it by troops were seen as part of the counter-revolutionary campaign.

The activists, who have remained in the square since Mr Mubarak resigned a month ago, have said they would leave when the demands of the democracy movement are met. These include dissolution of the secret police, an end to emergency law, release of political prisoners, lifting restrictions on political parties and media, adoption of a new constitution, and free and fair elections for president and parliament.

Democracy activists fear the sectarian clashes and subversive activities of the security apparatus could distract the public from a key issue that was to be a focus of attention in today’s mass gathering at Tahrir Square: the March 19th referendum on constitutional amendments proposed by a panel appointed by the army command exercising presidential power.

Nobel laureate and presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei has called on voters to reject the amendments which, he argued, do not go far enough to ensure transition to a democratic system. He is supported by the Egyptian Council for Foreign Relations, democracy activists and senior judges who believe the public is being called on to vote on amendments no one fully understands.

Tahani el-Gebali, Egypt’s first female judge, said, “We were not even given the chance to comment on the amendments. These modifications were presented as if they were a sacred book that should not be discussed . . . drafting a constitutional text is a political process . . . This process should be preceded by a national dialogue aimed at reaching a consensus . . . If we say yes, we will reactivate the suspended [1971] constitution”, regarded as an autocrat’s charter. The generals have appointed a committee to look into complaints.