Refugee Review Tribunal

AUSTRALIA

RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE

Research Response Number: EGY17719 Country: Date: 21 December 2005

Keywords: Egypt – Coptic – Muslim converts to – Mixed marriages – Exit procedures

This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Questions

1. An article from a website of “International Christian Concern” (persecution.org) entitled “Christian Captured and Threatened with Death after Trying to Leave Country” from “Barnabas Fund” Egypt, dated 2 December 2003 reported that the Christian husband of a Muslim convert to Christianity has been apprehended trying to leave Egypt. He was then held in the custody of a “notoriously cruel and vindictive security official”. Is there any independent verification of this event? 2. Have similar events been verified as having occurred? 3. What are the difficulties faced by a couple in Egypt where the husband is Christian and the wife is a Christian convert from ? 4. Anything else of relevance.

RESPONSE

1. An article from a website of “International Christian Concern” (persecution.org) entitled “Christian Captured and Threatened with Death after Trying to Leave Country” from “Barnabas Fund” Egypt, dated 2 December 2003 reported that the Christian husband of a Muslim convert to Christianity has been apprehended trying to leave Egypt. He was then held in the custody of a “notoriously cruel and vindictive security official”. Is there any independent verification of this event?

The incident referred to by the Member was widely reported in the Christian media. On December 2003, Compass Direct reported that Boulos Farid Rezek-Allah Awad, whose wife had converted to Christianity from Islam, had been arrested at the Libyan border while attempting to leave Egypt: A Coptic Christian secretly married to a woman convert from Islam was apprehended for the second time last week while trying to leave Egypt for Canada. Boulos Farid Rezek-Allah Awad, 31, was stopped at the Libyan border on November 25 and detained by Egyptian border police for 12 hours. Once the authorities had confirmed Rezek-Allah’s identity, he was refused exit permission and released. Upon returning to , security police summoned him to their Lazghouly headquarters for interrogation and told Rezek-Allah that he was blacklisted and would never be allowed to leave Egypt. An officer monitoring the case since Rezek- Allah’s first arrest nine months ago demanded to know the whereabouts of his wife, Enas Badawi Yousef Guirguis, 27. When told that Enas had managed to leave the country, the policeman vowed to find her. “I’ll bring her back and cut her into pieces in front of you,” he reportedly told Rezek-Allah. Sources in Egypt say Rezek-Allah’s only hope to leave Egypt and be reunited with his wife is through direct intervention by President or Interior Minister Habib al-Adli (Baker, Barbara G. 2003, ‘Egyptian Christian Captured at Libyan Border’, Compass Direct, 4 December Attachment 1).

An earlier report about this case was published on the Worthy News website, in September 2003, when Bolis Rezek-Allah was arrested at Cairo airport after his first unsuccessful attempt to leave the country:

Bolis Rezek-Allah was pulled off an international flight this afternoon in Cairo, Egypt, and is being held by Egyptian secret police. Rezek-Allah, who had been granted an immigrant visa to Canada, was on the plane to leave Egypt when police arrested him. (‘Christian held by Egyptian police’ 2003, Worthy News website, 26 September – http://www.worthynews.com/christian-persecution/escape-from-egypt.html – Accessed 2 December 2005 – Attachment 2).

In May 2004, Compass Direct reported that Boulos Farid Rezek-Allah Awad had escaped from Egypt and that he and his wife had subsequently been granted refugee status in Canada:

Thirteen months after Egypt jailed and tortured a Coptic Christian pharmacist for marrying a former Muslim woman, Boulos Farid Rezek-Allah Awad has finally been allowed to emigrate from Egypt to Canada.

Rezek-Allah flew out of the Cairo International Airport to Canada in March, shortly before his Canadian immigration visa was due to expire. A few weeks earlier, his wife Enas Yehya Abdel Aziz had escaped the country to claim refugee status abroad.

Egyptian security police officials told Rezek-Allah last November that he was permanently blacklisted from leaving Egypt. They vowed to track down and punish his wife for her “illegal” marriage to a Christian.

In a telephone interview from an undisclosed location in Canada, Rezek-Allah told Compass that he assumed that the Egyptian authorities somehow learned that his wife had managed to slip out of Egypt without being identified and arrested.

“So after they lost hope of catching Enas, they allowed me to depart from Egypt,” he said…

Rezek-Allah said that he himself did not know all the details surrounding his wife’s recent escape from Egypt. But after she managed to leave the country, the Canadian government granted her refugee status, citing the religious persecution she faced in her homeland for converting from Islam to Christianity…

Rezek-Allah admitted that it had been a long, stressful 13 months since he was arrested and separated from his wife under the threat of never being reunited. “But I think now, I begin to forget all this,” he told Compass. “God has healed my mind and my heart” (Baker, Barbara G. 2004, ‘Christian Couple Escape from Egypt’, Compass Direct, 18 May – Attachment 3).

2. Have similar events been verified as having occurred?

Only one reference to a similar incident was located in the sources consulted. The case was documented in a 1993 press release from the Jubilee Campaign. It involved “a twenty-six year old convert from Islam to Christianity who was arrested by Egyptian State Security Officers on 10 October 1992 at Cairo International Airport when she attempted to leave the country to seek asylum and join her fiancé in Europe”:

The case of Hanaan Assofti, a twenty-six year old convert from Islam to Christianity who was arrested by Egyptian State Security Officers on 10 October 1992 at Cairo International Airport when she attempted to leave the country to seek asylum and join her fiancé in Europe. Assofti reportedly said she was released only after signing a statement under duress, indicating that she had converted to Christianity and been baptised. Police told her father that she had intended to leave for Europe, where Christians would employ her as a prostitute. The woman’s parents were advised that she should not be permitted to leave home without an escort for a period of one year. She has been regularly beaten by family members who are trying to convert her back to Islam (‘Jubilee Campaign Raises Concerns With Egyptian Government Ministers 1993, Jubilee Campaign website, 8 October – http://www.jubileecampaign.co.uk/world/egy11.htm – Accessed 12 December 2005 – Attachment 4).

No other reports of similar incidents were located in the available sources.

3. What are the difficulties faced by a couple in Egypt where the husband is Christian and the wife is a Christian convert from Islam?

The sources consulted indicate that there are a number of potential difficulties facing couples in circumstances where the husband is Christian and the wife has converted to Christianity from Islam.

RRT Research Response EGY17522, dated 26 September 2005, recently examined the issue of Christian converts to Islam who reverted back to Christianity. The response details a number of issues that are relevant to this case, particularly with respect to the difficulties involved in changing identification documents (RRT Research Response 2005, Research Response EGY17522, 26 September – Attachment 5).

The US Department of State states that “According to Egypt’s Constitution, Islam is the official state religion and Shari’a (Islamic law) is the primary source of legislation; religious practices that conflict with the official interpretation of Shari’a are prohibited” (US Department of State 2005, International Religious Freedom Report for 2004 – Egypt, 15 September – Attachment 6). “Islamic Shari’a stipulates that [believers of other faiths] should be ruled according to their own religious codes. Correspondingly, Egyptian legislation, in accordance with Shari’a, grants non-Muslims a certain degree of autonomy in issues relating to personal status ‘by way of exception’” (Saleh, Yustina 2004, ‘Law, the Rule of Law, and Religious Minorities in Egypt’, The Review of International Affairs, Volume 8, No. 4, Article 7, December. http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2004/issue4/jv8no4a7.html – Accessed 20 September 2005 – Attachment 7). However, in cases where there is a mixed marriage, Islamic Shari’a law is applied, regardless of the religions involved.

According to Shari’a law, it is not permissible for a Muslim to convert to another religion. A 2004 paper published by the Middle East Review of International Affairs, discussing conversion in the context of traditional Islamic (Shari’a) law, states that “if one rejects Islam after believing in it, he/she becomes an apostate and is subject to the death penalty”. The author maintains that while apostasy is not prohibited by Egyptian law it is considered a violation of public interest:

According to Shari’a, a person is free to adopt or reject Islam. This is based on the verse “There is no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error….” (Koran 2:256). However, once the choice is made, the person assumes certain responsibilities. Accordingly, if one rejects Islam after believing in it, he/she becomes an apostate and is subject to the death penalty. The death penalty is specifically mentioned in the Hadith (oral traditions of Muhammad), which says: “The blood of a fellow Muslim should never be shed except in three cases: That of the adulterer, the murderer and whoever forsakes the religion of Islam.”

…Apostasy is not prohibited in Egyptian law, but it is deemed a violation of public interest (as indicated in different verdicts of the Court of Appeals for Case No. 20 of 1966). Apostasy results in the nullification of the marriage of the apostate, preventing him/her from entering into another marriage, and excluding him from inheritance rights and the person’s parental rights are denied (Saleh, Yustina 2004, ‘Law, the Rule of Law, and Religious Minorities in Egypt’, The Middle East Review of International Affairs, Volume 8, No. 4, Article 7, December. http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2004/issue4/jv8no4a7.html – Accessed 20 September 2005 – Attachment 7).

Under Shari’a law it is also not permitted for a Muslim woman to marry a non-Muslim man. The US Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report for 2005 – Egypt notes that in order to marry a Muslim woman a non-Muslim man must convert to Islam:

Under Shari’a, as practiced in the country, non-Muslim males must convert to Islam to marry Muslim women, but non-Muslim women need not convert to marry Muslim men. Muslim women are prohibited from marrying Christian men (US Department of State 2005, International Religious Freedom Report for 2005 – Egypt, 9 November. (Attachment 6).

An article published on AsiaNews.it website, dated 7 February 2004, also notes that Egyptian law bans mixed marriages between Muslim women and Christian men. The situation for Muslim converts is exacerbated by the fact that their conversions are difficult to register:

The Egyptian Constitution and law guarantee equality of rights and duties for both Muslims and Christians. Yet in reality, Egypt recognizes the conversion of Christians to Islam but does not so for Muslim converts to Christianity. A Christian who has become a Muslim can obtain a new I.D. card in less than 24 hours, documenting his new Islamic names. This procedure, on the other hand, is impossible for Christians who are former Muslims. For the Egyptian state registry office, they remain Muslims forever.

Such religious discrimination creates huge problems, particularly for Muslim women converts to Christianity before getting married to Christian men. Egyptian law, inspired by the Shariah (Koranic law), banns mixed marriages between a Muslim woman and a Christian man. According to the Shariah, a Christian man must first convert to Islam before marrying a Muslim woman. To do otherwise is punishable by death. Children of mixed marriages are Muslim by law. In addition to the handicap of not being able to profess freely their religious belonging, Christian converts from Islam suffer subtle forms of persecution. (‘Persecutions of Muslim Converts to Christianity continue’ 2004, AsiaNews website, 7 February – http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=346 – Accessed 2 December 2005 – Attachment 8).

While conversion from Islam to Christianity is not illegal under Egypt’s constitution, the US Department of State maintains that police sometimes “harassed Christians who converted from Islam”:

While there are no legal restrictions on the conversion of non-Muslims to Islam, there were occasional reports that police harassed Christians who converted from Islam.

The law prescribes administrative steps consequential to the conversion of a non-Muslim to Islam. The minor children of converts to Islam, and in some cases adult children, may automatically become classified as Muslims in the eyes of the Government irrespective of the religion of the other spouse. This practice is in accordance with the Government’s interpretation of Shari’a, which dictates “no jurisdiction of a non-Muslim over a Muslim” (US Department of State 2005, International Religious Freedom Report for 2005 – Egypt, 9 November – Attachment 6).

An article published on .com website maintains that “converts are actively punished by the police… and often face imprisonment, beatings and torture on various pretexts in order to try to force them to return to Islam”:

“Whilst Egypt has no law against apostasy from Islam, in practice, converts are actively punished by the police in this 90-percent Muslim country and often face imprisonment, beatings and torture on various pretexts in order to try to force them to return to Islam,” the Barnabas Fund said.

Egyptian Supreme Court Justice Said Al-Ashmawi explained that while conversion away from Islam is not specifically illegal, it is understood not to be acceptable.

“It is understood that converting from another faith to Islam is approved, while converting from Islam to another religion is prevented,” Al-Ashmawi was quoted as saying in a 1996 report by Middle East Concern.

“It is not mentioned that it is not allowed, but it is understood; there are technical problems that make it impossible. I hold that Egyptian law is actually Islamic law,” Al-Ashmawi said (Stahl, Julie 2003,’In Egypt: Reports of women raped in attempt to force return to Islam’, Copts.com website, 29 October 2003 – http://www.copts.net/detail.asp?id=462 – Accessed 5 December 2005 – Attachment 9).

Other reports note the difficulty Christian converts face in changing their identification documents to reflect their altered religious affiliation. Freedom House maintains that, since Muslim converts cannot change their names, it is “difficult for them avoid identification and abuse”:

Since Muslim converts to Christianity can change neither their religion nor their names on national identity cards, it is difficult for them to avoid identification and abuse. In addition, the children of someone who has embraced Christianity must be educated as Muslims and the convert may face compulsory divorce ‘Egypt’s Endangered Christians: Summary of Findings’ 1999, Freedom House, March – http://freedomhouse.org/religion/publications/endangered/ – Accessed 12 December 2005 – Attachment 10). In recent years, there have been a number of documented arrests of people charged with falsifying identification documents. A 2003 article from Compass Direct reported on the arrest of a number of Christians charged with falsifying identification documents for Christian converts:

Five weeks after her arrest tipped off a major crackdown against Egyptian converts to Christianity, Mariam Girguis Makar was sent back to El-Kanater Women’s Prison outside Cairo for another 15 days.

Married with two daughters, Makar, 30, has been accused by security police investigators of falsifying Christian identity papers for herself and other former Muslims. When brought before the state prosecutor on November 20, she was remanded to jail until December 5.

At least 22 other Christians, some converts from Islam and others of Coptic descent, were detained and interrogated in the harsh sweep following Makar’s arrest. One convert died while in police custody, and the others face legal prosecution (‘Egypt: Christian Mother stilled jailed in Egypt’ 2003, Compass Direct website, 1 December – http://www.compassdirect.org/en/lead.php?idelement=127 – Accessed 2 December 2005 – Attachment 11).

The US Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report for 2005 – Egypt reported on a recent court case involving a woman who had previously converted to Islam from Christianity and then reverted back to Christianity and who had been allowed to recover her Christian identity. The report states that “as of late June 2005, there were 49 other cases involving individuals who converted to Islam and then back to Christianity, who were attempting to recover their original Christian identities”. However, it is unclear from this report whether any of these cases involved Christian converts who had originally been Muslim:

In April 2004, an administrative court issued a verdict allowing Mona Makram Gibran, who had converted to Islam and later converted back to Christianity, to recover her original (Christian) name and identity. Some legal observers believed the case would constitute a significant precedent as the Government has generally refused to acknowledge citizens’ conversions from Islam to Christianity. The court’s written verdict noted “... the Constitution guarantees equality among citizens ... without any discrimination based on race, sex, language, or faith. The Government also guarantees freedom of thought and religious faith in accordance with Article 46 of the Constitution. ... [The State] is legally committed to register the woman’s real religion and is not allowed under any circumstance to use its assigned powers to force the woman to remain Muslim.” As of late June 2005, there were 49 other cases involving individuals who converted to Islam and then back to Christianity, who were attempting to recover their original Christian identities. All of these cases were before the same judge of the Cairo Administrative Court who ruled in the Gibran case. Of these 49 individuals, approximately 8 had received verdicts allowing them to recover their Christian identities. The MOI appealed two of these cases, perhaps because it did not foresee the flood of cases filed after the Gibran decision. These two cases were before the Supreme Administrative Court at the end of the reporting period. It remained unclear whether these cases would set a broad precedent for the Government’s treatment of converts from Islam.

Prior to the above mentioned cases, the Government had not recognized conversions of individuals originally Muslim to Christianity or other religions, and resistance to such conversions by local officials constituted a prohibition in practice. In the absence of a legal means to register their change in religious status, some converts resorted to soliciting illicit identity papers, often by submitting fraudulent supporting documents or bribing the government clerks who process the documents. In such cases, authorities periodically charged converts with violating laws prohibiting the falsification of documents US Department of State 2005, International Religious Freedom Report for 2005 – Egypt, 9 November. (Attachment 6).

The information in the available sources also indicates that authorities sometimes arrest Christian converts under a number of different laws. For example, in June 2005, US Newswire reported on the arrest of a former Muslim preacher who had converted to Christianity. He was arrested “under Egypt’s Emergency Security Law for endangering national unity by converting to Christianity”:

Christian Solidarity International (CSI) is protesting the arrest and continued imprisonment of Bahaa-Eldin El-Akkhad, a former Islamic preacher from Al Talebiya, Giza, in Lower Egypt.

El-Akkad, 46, was arrested on April 6, 2005 under Egypt’s Emergency Security Law for endangering national unity by converting to Christianity. Egyptian State Security Prosecutor Tarek Abdelshakour focused his interrogation of El-Akkad on allegations that he had “defamed Islam.”

After 45 days of incarceration, El-Akkad was transferred to Mazra’at Tora Prison in Cairo where political prisoners are held. Human rights activists have described Tora Prison as the worst prison in Egypt, because of its rampant torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners.

Though Egypt signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which calls for the , the government continues to arrest Christian converts who leave Islam.

“The Egyptian government has pledged to the international community that it will work for democratic reform, yet it continues to violate its own rule of law when it comes to Christians and the free exercise of conscience,” says Fr. Keith Roderick, CSI’s Washington Representative.

Amnesty International and the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights have provided extensive documentation on the use of torture against those detained because of emergency legislation.

CSI is demanding the immediate release of Bahaa El-Din El- Akkad and an end to the Egyptian government’s policy of targeting those who convert from Islam, apostates, as political prisoners.

El-Akkad is married and has three children. Prior to his conversion, he was associated with the Tabligh and Da’wa Committee in Al Telabiya. The movement, known for its propagation and preaching, began in and was founded by Imam Muhammad Kandahlawey in 1867 (‘Egyptian Government Targets Christian as Threat to National Security: Former Muslim Preacher’s Conversion Leads to Imprisonment’ 2005, US Newswire, 23 June – http://releases.usnewswire.com/printing.asp?id=49312 – Accessed 13 December 2005 – Attachment 12).

International Christian Concern also maintain that “some Muslim converts to Christianity have been charged with a provision of the Penal code that prohibits the use of religion to ‘ignite heavenly strife, degrade any of the heavenly religions or harm national unity or social peace’”(‘Country Report: Egypt’ 2005, International Christian Concern website, April – http://www.persecution.org/newsite/countryinfodetail.php?countrycode=7 – Accessed 8 December 2005 – Attachment 13). In a 1999 report titled ‘Egypt’s Endangered Christians’ Freedom House also reported that “Converts from Islam to Christianity have been imprisoned and tortured by the police and charged with ‘insulting religion’ or “disrupting national unity’”:

Police at the local level frequently harass and sometimes even persecute Christians, particularly converts, either out of sympathy with or fear of Islamic radicals. In several instances local police have been complicit in the coercive conversion of Coptic girls.

While Egypt has no explicit law against apostasy, the influence of sharia law on the civil code is creating a de facto law. Converts from Islam to Christianity have been imprisoned and tortured by the police and charged with “insulting religion” or “disrupting national unity.” In recent years, the security forces have tended not to deal with converts directly but to inform their families or others in the area, who have in turn mistreated and even killed the convert with impunity. (‘Egypt’s Endangered Christians’ 1999, Freedom House, March – http://freedomhouse.org/religion/publications/endangered/ – Accessed 12 December 2005 – Attachment 10).

Also of interest are two previous RRT research responses which address the issue of conversion from Islam to Christianity in Egypt:

• RRT Research Response EGY15763 provides information on the legality of converting from Islam to Christianity in Egypt (RRT Country Research 2003, Research Response EGY15763, 10 March – Attachment 14).

• RRT Research Response EGY16097 examines the risks faced by converts to Christianity and the ability and willingness of the Egyptian government to provide protection. (RRT Country Research 2003, Research Response EGY16097, 18 August – Attachment 15)

4. Anything else of relevance

There has recently been an escalation in anti-Christian violence in . The violence revolved around objections by Muslims to a Christian church play which dealt with the issue of conversion from Islam to Christianity. An extract from a report by Assist News Service, dated 21 October 2005, follows:

Three people have died during a riot outside a Coptic church in Alexandria, Egypt, after a protest against a play accused of offending Islam.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reports Police used sticks and tear gas to hold back a crowd of some 5,000 protesters who marched on St George’s church.

Dozens of people were injured in the crush. One man who died was trampled and had inhaled tear gas, police said.

On Wednesday, a Muslim man stabbed a nun in protest at the sale of a DVD of the play, staged at the church in 2003.

The demonstration was the latest in a series of incidents at the church related to the performance of the play.

Entitled “I Once Was Blind But Now I See,” the drama tells the story of a poor young Copt who is drawn to Islamist militants who then try to kill him. Coptic Christian leaders have said the play depicts the dangers of extremism, not of Islam. “Copts would never tolerate anyone insulting Islam,” Coptic Bishop Armia is quoted by Egypt’s official Mena news agency as saying.

The Egyptian Interior Ministry described the protesters as “fanatic elements” who “escalated a negative reaction to a play,” according to the (AP) news agency…

Relations between Muslims and the Coptic minority -- which makes up 5 –10 percent of Egypt’s population -- are generally calm, although tensions sometimes flare.

Copts remained the majority in Egypt for centuries after the 7th Century conquest of the country by Muslim armies.

Nowadays, they complain of discrimination in the workplace, restrictions on church construction and periodic fears that Christians are being forced to convert by Islamic extremists.

CNN, in a news story by The Associated Press (AP), reports that thousands of Muslims clashed with police as they rioted outside a Coptic Christian church Friday to denounce a play deemed offensive to Islam. Police responded by beating protesters and firing tear gas into the crowd, officials said.

Police said 53 protesters were arrested as people hurled stones, smashed windows and tried to storm St. George Church. Protesters also set a police car on fire and wrecked eight other cars, the Interior Ministry said in a statement ‘Three Killed In Egyptian Church Riot Following Screening Of Religious Play’ 2005, Assist News Service (ANS), 21 October – http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s05100116.htm – Accessed 16 December 2005 – Attachment 16).

List of Sources Consulted

Internet Sources: Government Information & Reports United Nations (UN) Non-Government Organisations International News & Politics Region Specific Links Topic Specific Links Search Engines Google search engine http://www.google.com.au/ Online Subscription Services Library Networks University Sites

Databases: Public FACTIVA Reuters Business Briefing DIMIA BACIS Country Information REFINFO IRBDC Research Responses (Canada) RRT ISYS RRT Country Research database, including Amnesty International, , US Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. RRT Library FIRST RRT Library Catalogue

List of Attachments

1. Baker, Barbara G. 2003, ‘Egyptian Christian Captured at Libyan Border’, Compass Direct, 4 December. (CISNET Egypt CX87007)

2. ‘Christian held by Egyptian police’ 2003, Worthy News website, 26 September. (http://www.worthynews.com/christian-persecution/escape-from-egypt.html – Accessed 2 December 2005)

3. Baker, Barbara G. 2004, ‘Christian Couple Escape from Egypt’, Compass Direct, 18 May. (CISNET Egypt CX95220)

4. ‘Jubilee Campaign Raises Concerns With Egyptian Government Ministers 1993, Jubilee Campaign website, 8 October. (http://www.jubileecampaign.co.uk/world/egy11.htm – Accessed 12 December 2005)

5. RRT Research Response 2005, Research Response EGY17522, 26 September.

6. US Department of State 2005, International Religious Freedom Report for 2004 – Egypt, 15 September.

7. Saleh, Yustina 2004, ‘Law, the Rule of Law, and Religious Minorities in Egypt’, The Middle East Review of International Affairs, Volume 8, No. 4, Article 7, December. (http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2004/issue4/jv8no4a7.html – Accessed 20 September 2005)

8. ‘Persecutions of Muslim Converts to Christianity continue’ 2004, AsiaNews website, 7 February. (http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=346 – Accessed 2 December 2005)

9. Stahl, Julie 2003,’In Egypt: Reports of women raped in attempt to force return to Islam’, Copts.com websites, 29 October 2003. (http://www.copts.net/detail.asp?id=462 – Accessed 5 December 2005)

10. ‘Egypt’s Endangered Christians: Summary of Findings’ 1999, Freedom House, March. (http://freedomhouse.org/religion/publications/endangered/ – Accessed 12 December 2005)

11. ‘Egypt: Christian Mother stilled jailed in Egypt’ 2003, Compass Direct website, 1 December. (http://www.compassdirect.org/en/lead.php?idelement=127 – Accessed 2 December 2005)

12. ‘Egyptian Government Targets Christian as Threat to National Security: Former Muslim Preacher’s Conversion Leads to Imprisonment’ 2005, US Newswire, 23 June. (http://releases.usnewswire.com/printing.asp?id=49312 – Accessed 13 December 2005)

13. ‘Country Report: Egypt’ 2005, International Christian Concern website, April. (http://www.persecution.org/newsite/countryinfodetail.php?countrycode=7 – Accessed 8 December 2005) 14. RRT Country Research 2003, Research Response EGY15763, 10 March.

15. RRT Country Research 2003, Research Response EGY16097, 18 August.

16. ‘Three Killed In Egyptian Church Riot Following Screening Of Religious Play’ 2005, Assist News Service (ANS), 21 October. (http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s05100116.htm – Accessed 16 December 2005)