The KAICIID Board of Directors, consisting of representatives of five religions - Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism - issued today the following statement following the attack on the Mar Mina Coptic Christian church in the Helwan district in Cairo on 29 December 2017:

 

“We have witnessed the pain and suffering caused by the deliberate killing of Egyptian Copts at the Mar Mina Church while peacefully worshipping, which is their innate human right. We condemn this crime in the strongest possible terms.

 

At a time when traditionally the gift of family, friendship and charity towards the less fortunate is celebrated, we wish to express our deepest condolences to those who have lost loved ones, and we salute the courage of the people and  members of the Egyptian police force, who were killed and injured while defending the Coptic congregation.

In this spirit we wish to commend and encourage the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, H.E. Ahmed el-Tayeb, for his cordial and spiritual initiative following this terrorist  attack  to call upon all Egyptian Muslims to join their fellow Coptic citizens in celebrating Christmas. We pray that the Grand Imam’s initiative will  catalyze a dialogue between religious communities across Egypt and the Middle East . We reaffirm that we stand with all Egyptian citizens as they come together in sorrow-to resist terror and extremism and to  promote respect , understanding and conviviality."