The Church in Egypt is being subjected to \u201ccheap political blackmail and political thuggery\u201d\u009d as Islamists demand that its funds come under state control in what could be seen as a ploy to deflect growing scrutiny of Muslim Brotherhood finances and affairs.<\/p>\n
This was the assessment of Christian rights\u2019 group Copts Without Chains to the call last week by Islamists in the Constituent Assembly that the government monitor church finances. Khaled Saeed, spokesman for the Salafist Front, said in a debate on Egyptian TV on 28 August that the measure was \u201cnecessary\u201d\u009d to know where the Church\u2019s money goes and \u201cif it is on the right track or not\u201d\u009d.<\/p>\n
Absurdly over-stating the power of the Christian community in Egypt, Saeed claimed that the smallest monastery in Egypt was larger than the Vatican, and he alleged there were concerns of a \u201cchurch state within the Egyptian civil state\u201d\u009d.<\/p>\n