LOC13:56
10:56 GMT
By Tamer Aboalenin
GENEVA, Dec 10 (KUNA) -- The Swiss Islamic Shura Central Council condemned
on Friday the Swiss television portraying the situation of Egyptian Copts in a
report as brutally suffering and oppressed by the state.
The report is tainted with defects and aims to portray Christians as
minorities in Muslim countries as if they suffer from oppression, using
Egypt'S Copts as an example, the council said in its statement.
The report is filled with misplaced important facts about the situation of
Christians in Egypt and the economic crisis affecting the society, although it
does not discriminate according to religious affiliation as portrayed by the
report, therefore the report lacked professional objectivity, it added.
The report fails to mention that Egyptian Copts serve in posts in the
government, military and police, and one of the wealthiest Egyptians,
currently residing In Switzerland and also living in Egypt, is also a Coptic
Christian, said media spokesman of the Council Qaasim Elie in remarks to
Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
"I wonder when Muslims will be able to e members in the Swiss parliament,
but it seems like a distant dream," he added.
He noted that the report diverts the attention of public from the problems
of Muslims in Switzerland, which outweigh the problems of the Copts in Egypt.
He even listed problems of repression in Switzerland that includes banning
construction of minarets, livestock slaughter, polygamy and wearing a
headscarf (hijab) at work or schools, participating in sporting events,
forcing Muslim schoolgirls to attend mixed-gender lessons in swimming and
refusing to specialize a plot of land to build a cemetry for Muslims.
The Islamic Shura Council was founded a year ago, after the announcement of
the ban on building minarets. It grouped 13 Islamic societies and
organizations.(end)
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KUNA 101356 Dec 10NNNN