Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Constitution Party, explained that contempt of religion and insulting the president are charges found only in authoritarian regimes.

ElBaradei added that the prestige of Egypt has declined under extreme poverty, ignorance and disease.

"If the National Salvation Front (NSF) participates in the elections, it will run under unified lists as the Brotherhood does. The front has enough experience and competence to save Egypt," ElBaradei pointed out. more >>

Hossam Abdel Moniem, a former leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, said that the leaders of the Egypt's ruling group are not qualified to rule the country, given that the members were once prevented from taking any executive position during the era of the Hosni Mubarak regime.

Moniem said that the Muslim Brotherhood is based on the principle of hearing and obedience, and such a principle cannot produce creators, intellectuals or administrative people for the state.

During an interview with ONA TV, Moniem noted the vast differences between leading a group and running a country- a difference, he added, which is not helped by the current confusion of religion and politics. This has had negative repercussions on religion due to their mismanagement, he said. more >>

Deputy Head of the Egyptian Democratic Social Party Emad Gad said that pressure from religious groups in the country is corrupting the judicial system in Egypt.

"The court's response to the request submitted by Abu Islam's defense staff is a reflection of the authorities' submission to the pressure exerted by religious groups who work to Islamize the public sphere in Egypt," Gad told Mideast Christian News.

"The exclusion of the court's secretary was to further extend the Islamization of cases and further sedition amongst employees … it is normal, reasonable and expected request from abu-Islam's defense," he added more >>

Priest Ekram Lamei, Chairperson of the Evangelical Synod, criticized the decision issued by a Cairo court to exclude the secretary of the court from a hearing session because he is a Christian.

The decision came in response to a request submitted by Abu-Islam's defense lawyer to have the court secretary removed from court proceedings.

Father Lamei said he considered the decision an insult against Christianity and Christian people and stressed the need to submit an appeal against the decision. more >>

A stampede in Ghana on Sunday left four people dead after thousands swarmed a church said to be offering holy water with healing properties.

"All of us were caught by surprise. No one knew the crowd will be so huge," police spokesman Freeman Tetteh said, according to BBC News. "The church was also caught by surprise ... Nobody can apportion blame [at this stage]."

The stampede occurred at the Ghana branch of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, Ghana Business News reported. The head pastor of the church, Prophet T. B. Joshua, has been sending out repackaged holy water to branches of the church across the globe, an initiative he announced earlier in May. A number of church members in Accra, the capital, had lined up since Saturday night in hopes of gaining access to the anointed water, and the church was supposedly at full capacity by 8: 30 p.m. more >>

Rev. Refaat Fikri, head of the Media Center for the Evangelical Church in Egypt, said the problems facing Egyptian Christians have been going on since the 1970s and looks to continue as there is a lack of political will by the ruling regime to solve them.

This came in response to the initiative launched on Wednesday by the Building and Development Party, the political arm of Gamaat Islamiyya under the title "A Unified Nation."

It aims to "strengthen the national fabric and maintain strong relations among all Muslim and Christian communities of the Egyptian society." more >>