State prosecutors say they plan to launch an investigation into a dispute between Egypt's Coptic Church and an Islamic publishing house that recently printed a version of the Bible alleged by the publisher to have been "forged."
Publisher Abu Islam Abdallah, who wrote in the book's introduction that he had published the Bible version in order to prove that Christians had "tampered with their own holy book," has so far refused to apologize to Coptic Pope Shenouda III for having made the assertions.
“What I wrote in the book's introduction is the result of four years of research,” Abdallah said. “It relies on references that have been recognized by Egypt's three major Christian denominations.”
Coptic Bishop Abdel Messih Bassit has said the Coptic Church was "extremely offended" by the perceived "act of contempt" for Christianity shown by the publisher.
Coptic Church adviser Naguib Gibril, for his part, expressed satisfaction that authorities would launch an immediate investigation into the case. “This means the state is serious when it comes to the defamation of religion,” he said.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
