Cablegate: Potential Good News for Egypt's Christians:

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 009178

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR NEA/ELA AND DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KIRF EG
SUBJECT: POTENTIAL GOOD NEWS FOR EGYPT'S CHRISTIANS:
PRESIDENT MUBARAK EASES RESTRICTIONS ON CHURCH REBUILDING
AND REPAIR

Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly.

1. (SBU) Summary: President Mubarak has decreed that
registered Christian groups will face new, less restrictive
regulations governing repair and rebuilding of existing
churches. Church repair and rebuilding has been a perennial
problem for Egypt's Christians, as documented in the
Department's International Religious Freedom Report and
elsewhere. The new rules, which considerably diminish the
regulatory process and also devolve decision making power to
the governorates, are a potentially significant improvement
for religious freedom in Egypt. As with most other GOE laws
and regulations, the proof will lie in implementation. Post
and others concerned with religious freedom will be watching
closely to determine the exact impact of the new decree. End
summary.

2. (SBU) The text of the President's new decree appeared on
December 8 in the pro-Government newspaper Al-Gomhoriya.
Post's unofficial translation is as follows:

(begin translation)

-----------------------------------
Presidential Decree No 291 for 2005
-----------------------------------

The President,

Having reviewed the Constitution and the (following) laws:

--Law 106/1976 regarding directing and organizing
construction works;
--Local Government Law issued by virtue of law 43/1979;
--The Antiquities Protection Law issued by virtue of Law
117/1983;
--And Presidential Decree 13/1998 delegating authority to
governors in some areas;
--And Presidential Decree 453/1999 regarding procedures for
restoration of houses of worships.

Has decreed the following (291/2005):

Article I:

Governors, in their respective jurisdictions, are delegated
the authority of granting permits to Christian denominations
to demolish churches and construct replacements in the same
locations; and to rebuild, restore, or expand existing
churches. Requests for permits should be examined (by the
Governors), after consulting with pertinent entities, within
30 days of the submission of the requests, which must be
supported by required documents. Request for permits may not
be turned down except with a justified ruling.

Article 2:

Restoration or reinforcement of existing church facilities
may be conducted by virtue of a written notification from
church officials to the administrative body handling
organization affairs in each governorate.

Article 3:

Presidential Decree Number 453/1999 noted above is canceled.

Article 4

The decree shall be published in the official Gazette and
takes effect effective the date of its publication.

(end translation)

Decree 291/2005 appeared in the GOE Gazette on December 8,
2005. We believe that it is now in force.

3. (SBU) Mubarak's last major effort to ameliorate the
church repair problem came in 1999 with law 453. As noted in
the Department's most recent Report on International
Religious Freedom:

(begin 2005 IRFR excerpt)

In 1999, President Mubarak issued Decree 453, making the
repair of all places of worship subject to a 1976 civil
construction code. This decree places repair of churches and
mosques on equal footing under the law. However, permits for
such repairs are still subject to approval by local
administrative and security officials. Even though mosque and
church repairs are now subject to the same laws, authorities
enforce the laws more strictly for churches than for mosques.
Security officials also sometimes deny or delay permits for
the supply of water and electricity. Incidents of blocked or
delayed permits vary, often depending on the attitude of
local security officials and the governorate leadership
toward the church, and on their personal relationships with
representatives of the Christian churches.

(end 2005 IRFR excerpt)

Article Two of the new decree appears to eliminate the need
for church officials to wait for approval for repairs. Under
the new law, they will be able simply to notify the
authorities and proceed with their work.
4. (SBU) Although it is too soon to say definitively that
that the new decree will lead to a major improvement in
religious freedom for Egypt's Christians, the initial
reaction in Cairo has been favorable. Comments reported in
Al-Ahram on December 8 included the following:

--Father Morcos Aziz, Priest of the Hanging Church, Old
Cairo: "Our feeling of citizenship has increased."

--Hamdy Zagzoug, Minister of Islamic Endowments: "The decree
emphasizes equality in demolishing/erecting houses of
worship. There is now no difference between a mosque and a
church. This is a decision that makes Copts happy and that
we Muslims welcome."

--Adly Hussien, Governor of Qalyoubya: "I welcome this
decision, which was a request of the Governors before being a
request for Copts. This will entirely eliminate the problem
of churches."

--General Salah Salama, Governor of Kafr El Shiekh (and
rumored by Cairo salons to be a potential replacement to
Interior Minister Habib Al-Adly): "The necessity is for all
concerned both in churches and Executive agencies to submit
the necessary documentation in order to achieve the desired
result."

--Safwat Al Biady, Head of the Evangelical Church: "The
decision...achieves an important desire for Christians. It
is similar (in its significance) to the amendment of Article
76 of the constitution."

5. (SBU) Comment: We note several significant positive
developments with the new decree:

--Basic repairs short of reconstruction can now proceed with
simple notification (vice waiting for official approval);

--Demolition and reconstruction of derelict churches will be
governed by decisions at the governorate level;

--The requirement that the governorates respond to
reconstruction requests within thirty days suggests that
Christian groups will have legal recourse to the courts if
any local level officials are unduly tardy in responding to
reconstruction applications.

Regrettably, the new decree does not appear to affect the
issue of onerous regulations (the long-standing Homayuni
Decree) governing the construction of new churches. In
addition, if we see any potential problem with the new
decree, it would lie with the language in Article One about
the need for applications to be supported "by required
documents." Local interpretation of this requirement, as
well as the local views of Governors and their staffs towards
Egypt's Christian minority, will now play a key role in the
success of this decree. We will also be watching to see how
this new decree is received by Muslim groups, especially
those critical of the GOE. End comment.

RICCIARDONE

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