A high level source within the church has confirmed that President Mursi and Pope Tawadros have spoken by phone, and that the Pope reassured the President on the situation in the Cathedral as well as rejecting violence and attempts to divide Muslims and Copts. The Council of Egyptian Churches condemned the attack on the Cathedral and demanded the immediate intervention of security forces. Bishop Mūsá has stated that the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power has created inconsistencies within the state, and that members of security forces fired tear gas into the Cathedral. However he also noted that other security forces put out fires that threatened to spread. Bishop Mūsá appealed to all political parties to try to end sectarian strife, and to the Ministry of the Interior to arrest those who attacked the Cathedral ('Imād Khalīl, al-Misrī al-Yawm, Apr. 8, p. 9). Read original text in Arabic.