LOC19:16
16:16 GMT
CAIRO, Dec 9 (KUNA) -- Following in Al-Azhar's footsteps, Egypt's Coptic Church on Saturday decided not to meet with US Vice President Mike Pence in Cairo later in December in protest against a recent US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
The Church was quoted by Egypt's official news agency (MENA) as saying in a statement that its move was due to the fact that US President Donald Trump's decision "did not take into account the feelings of millions of Arab people".
However, it prayed that everyone concerned would have wisdom to address all issues that affect the peace of the Middle East people.
The Coptic Church's decision comes a day after Egypt's Al-Azhar also declined to meet the senior US official in Cairo.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday recognized in a much-anticipated announcement Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The US president's decision has sparked wide-scale condemnations and rejection at Arab, Islamic and international levels.
The Palestinian forces called for three days of rage to protest the US move on Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the June 1967 war. (end)
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