Egypt to halt ‘stickers war’

Press, 2 July 1985, Page 10

Egypt to halt ‘stickers war’

NZPA-Reuter Cairo Egypt, in its latest move to curb religious extremism, has ordered a halt to a “stickers war” which security sources said could rekindle strife between Egypt’s Muslim majority and Christian Copts. The Interior Ministry said it was giving motorists seven days to remove stickers from their vehicles or face fines and a year’s suspension of their driving licences.

Security sources at the Ministry said the ban was aimed at ending what they called the “stickers war” between Muslims and Copts which had assumed worrying proportions. A growing number of Cairo’s estimated 500,000 vehicles bear stickers with key religious Muslim and Christian phrases.

The most common Muslim stickers read: “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is Allah’s prophet” and “Islam is Allah’s religion.” Copts display pictures of their spiritual leader, Poj» Shenouda 111, the biblical phrase, “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want,” and a variety of crosses and crucifixes.

About 6 million Copts are among Egypt’s 48 million people. They belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church which claims 22 million followers throughout the world.

The security sources said the Ministry’s move came after recent minor incidents of attacks by Muslim zealots on churches in rural areas. The police were ordered to act tough on any violations of the ban on stickers, they said.