Cairo, London spat over Coptic pope
14/4/08; http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=7139
Egypt said on Sunday it would step up airport security procedures for British officials after authorities at London’s Heathrow Airport tried to search the head of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church. Egypt has already complained to Britain after airport authorities on March 30 tried to physically search Pope Shenuda III, 84, who has a diplomatic passport, before he boarded his flight. He was not physically searched but was “forced to go through a metal detector,” Egypt’s Deputy Foreign Minister Wafa Bassim told the Shura Council, the upper house of Egypt’s parliament. As a result “we will apply the principle of reciprocity and treat British representatives the same way,” following the March 30 incident. She said that a “firm letter” had been sent to the British foreign office about the incident. During the same session, Shura Speaker Sawfat Sherif demanded an official apology from the British government. A spokeswoman for the British embassy in Cairo could not confirm that the letter had been received and declined to say whether ambassador Dominic Asquith would be meeting Shenuda to apologise for the incident.
Tags: Christianity, Egypt, UK