The village of Fanūs, Tāmīyah Township of al-Faiyum Governorate, witnessed today a new fitnah tā'ifīyah after mosques in surrounding villages called on their microphones on Muslims to go and help their Muslim brethren in the village of Fanūs, because Christians were "building a church." The building, however, was a social service compound for which all the necessary government permits had been issued under the real estate registration no. 1117 of 2011; it had a reception hall on the first floor and a kindergarten on the second.
A meeting had taken place beforehand between the village mayor and elders from Muslim and Coptic sides and it was agreed that only the first floor was to remain and the second be demolished.
According to Father Armiyā Shawqī, responsible for the church services in Fanūs, nearly 500 young Muslims took part in demolishing the church property.
Fr. Armiyā said that the Coptic Church had previously warned the security authorities of the danger of the Islamists provoking sedition in Tāmīyah and neighboring areas, but they ignored the warnings. Security forces arrived after the building was completely razed.
The lawyer Usāmah Fū'ād filed a complaint at the Tāmīyah Prosecution Office and added that the construction’s costs are 80 thousand Egyptian Pounds, which according to him, should be paid as compensations to the Coptic community there. He added that he will inform the non-governmental administrations in Cairo on the incident.
According to the village mayor Murād Abū Magīb, the relations between Muslims and Christians are good in the village, but the "youth take unreasonable actions," making excuses for not honoring their agreement of leaving the ground floor intact (Michel ꞌAbdullah, al-Watan, Jan. 17, p. 3). Read original text in Arabic.
