Although the funeral of Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the St. Mark See was attended by dignitaries from Egypt and foreign countries, there was a striking absence of officials from the transitional government.
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, and Sami Anan, Chief of Staff of the Egyptian army, did not attend, while Hamdi Badin and other council members showed up.
Tantawi and Annan went to the Coptic cathedral on Monday to offer their condolences. Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri did not attend, nor did he offer his condolences on Monday.
A senior delegation from the Vatican came, in addition to the patriarch and all the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in Egypt, while the Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb dispatched a delegation of his top aides to attend the ceremony.
Sufi orders offered their condolences on Tuesday, and former Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and former Minister of Religious Endowments Hamdi Zaqzouq attended the funeral, although they have been away from the political scene.
Also several presidential candidates, such as Ahmed Shafiq, Amr Moussa, Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh, Hesham al-Bastawisi, Hamdeen Sabbahi, and Mamdouh Qutb attended.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
