Press Information Note 53
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) met with Pope Shenouda, the head of the Coptic Church, and the Sheikh of the Azhar but otherwise was almost universally boycotted by both Christians and Muslims. The members of the Commission waited in vain for members of Egyptian political parties and civil society groups to arrive at the commission’s welcoming gala. The press variously put the Egyptian attendance at zero or two, with one of the two reported guests subsequently denying her presence.