As Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood declares its intent to institute Islamic law, intelligence sources report al-Qaida is staging attacks in the Middle East nation, prompting concern that Coptic Christians soon will be driven from their homeland.
International Christian Concern's Aidan Clay says the Copts' attitude has gone from uncertainty to fear, which is driving many Coptic Christians to try to leave Egypt.
"A report from a very prominent Copt says he's getting hundreds of calls a week from Coptic Christians who are trying to get out of the country," Clay told WND in an interview. "That's an extremely sad thing considering we're seeing that throughout the Middle East. We're seeing the quick removal of ancient Christian communities. Egypt has the highest Christian population of any country and a very old Christian church there."
Clay blames the increasing pressure on the growing political influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic groups.
"So really, there is a fear that the Muslim Brotherhood could take power," he said. "It's the same with the Salafis. They're now saying they're willing to run for Parliament."
The International Christian Concern analyst was referring to a recent report on Vatican Radio that said the long-restricted Salafist group is planning to form a political party and run candidates for Egypt's Parliament.
"In the past, Mubarak had a very hard hand on these extreme, fundamentalist, ultra-conservative groups. They were not allowed to run for government in any way," Clay commented. "But the Muslim Brotherhood had some influence and were able to get some votes."
Clay said that even though the groups were kept under control, they've long had the Christians in their sights.
"These were the groups responsible for the major terrorist attacks against the Christians. They may even be responsible for the New Year's Eve attack against the church in Alexandria," Clay asserted. "Mubarak of course blamed an outside al-Qaeda group for the attack. The Copts don't buy that; they think it was it was an excuse by Mubarak to not to have to deal with the turmoil inside of Egypt."
The issue for Copts, as Clay explained, is that both groups have promised some form of Islamic government, which would put restrictions on the Christians in Egypt.
Coptic Christians demonstrated against Islamic law, or Shariah, and voiced support for an entirely secular state in Egypt. Clay said the desire for a secular government will likely go unheeded.
"They're not going to get far in demanding a secular constitution, especially if the Brotherhood gains a lot of influence in the September elections," he said. "The Brotherhood will slowly gain control and they'll gain seats by using democracy to their advantage."
Clay's assessment is in line with a recently published Heritage Foundation report on Egypt's political future and the status of the Coptic Christians.
