WATANI International
5 June 2011
Pope Shenouda at Cleveland Clinic
Egyptian Ambassador to the US Sameh Shoukri has paid a visit to the patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Shenouda III at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, to relay the greetings of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and wish the Pope a safe return home.
Pope Shenouda, who has been in the US since Sunday 22 May, is undergoing a routine medical checkup. Mr Shoukri discussed with the bishops accompanying the Pope the current changes in Egypt, stressing his confidence that Egypt’s Muslims and Copts would not fall prey to plots to split their national unity.
Coptic church in Marseilles
The Coptic community in the French city of Marseilles have opened a new church there. Consecrated in the name of Mar-Mina and Mar-Girgis (St Mina and St George), the church opening was attended by Sherif Raafat, Egypt’s consul-general in Marseilles, Mayor of Marseilles Jean-Claude Gaudin, and a large number of public figures in the city.
Egyptian Ethiopian opportunity
Last Sunday saw Prime Minister Essam Sharaf inaugurate a symposium on opportunities of investment and trade cooperation between Egypt and Ethiopia. The two-day event was organized by the Egyptian-Ethiopian Business Council in Cairo, and tackled the role played by businessmen, major companies and banks in opening new vistas for joint cooperation between the two nations. Participating were a number of Egyptian and Ethiopian officials, as well as representatives from the Egyptian business community and chambers of commerce in both Egypt and Ethiopia.
Panorama for heritage in Congo
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s CULTNAT (The Centre for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage) has outlined a preliminary visualisation for the implementation of a “panorama for heritage” project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the style of the Egyptian heritage panorama which was carried out in Egypt by the centre. CULTNAT has a patent for the project which will be carried out by Cairo as a gift to Kinshasa, under the sponsorship of the ministries of communications and information technology, planning and international cooperation.
The decision was taken following a recent visit by CULTNAT director Fathy Saleh to DR Congo. Saleh said it was essential that Egyptians restore their key role in the African continent, and that Egypt is working on boosting a strong, cultural presence in Africa.
Egypt can help Iraq
Egypt stands ready to help the Iraqi people in their efforts to return the artefacts looted from their country during the last war and smuggled abroad, State Minister for Antiquities Zahi Hawass said. He invited Iraq to attend the international conference on the restitution of artefacts which was held in Cairo last April. This is the second such conference; the first was held also in Cairo last year. Hawass asked Iraq to provide Egypt with a list of all the stolen Iraqi relics.