CAIRO: The grand Imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the country’s top Islamic authority, offered greetings to Coptic Pope Tawadros II on the occasion of Easter.
Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb met the pope on Sunday morning at the papal headquarters at the St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Abbassiya, Cairo.
Tawadros described Al-Tayyeb’s visit to the cathedral by saying “it reflects love, affection and the bond between him and Al-Azhar’s Grand Sheikh,” Al-Masry el-Youm newspaper reported.
In a statement, the Al-Azhar Imam said the brotherly ties binding Egypt’s Muslim and Christian communities set a model for co-existence and tolerance.
Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, has received several high dignitaries and state officials who expressed their greetings to Egypt’s copts in celebration of Easter.
Easter marks the end of a 55-day period of fasting for Copts.
The country’s Grand Mufti Shawki Allam and Minister of Religious Endowments Mokhtar Gomaa also visited the cathedral to extend their best wishes.
Azhar grand imam visits Coptic pope to offer Easter greetings
Azhar grand imam visits Coptic pope to offer Easter greetings
Lawyers in Sanaa face Houthi repression: report
- Claims of arbitrary arrests and detentions, direct threats
- 159 Houthi violations in 2025, 88 in 2024, 135 in 2023
DUBAI: In Yemen, the Houthis are attacking lawyers, raising widespread concerns about the rule of law and state of the justice system, Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Tuesday.
“Recent reports from local human rights organizations have revealed a recurring pattern of systematic restrictions on the practice of (the) law profession, including arbitrary arrests, prolonged detentions, and direct threats,” according to Arab News’ sister publication.
The publication added that the situation “in Sanaa and other Houthi-controlled cities no longer provides a professional environment for lawyers who themselves are now subject to questioning or targeted for defending their clients, especially in cases of a political or human rights nature.”
The Daoo Foundation for Rights and Development organization have reported more than 382 Houthi violations against lawyers in Sanaa from January 2023 to December 2025.
These include arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention without legal justification, threats of murder and assault, preventing them from practicing law, and restrictions on the right to defense in cases of a political or human rights nature.
The report stated that there were 159 Houthi violations against lawyers in 2025, 88 in 2024 and 135 in 2023, which was described as a “systematic pattern.”
Local and international human rights organizations have called for urgent intervention to protect the legal practitioners in Yemen.
“Human rights activists believe that protecting lawyers is a prerequisite for maintaining any future reform or political path because the absence of an independent defense means the absence of justice itself,” Asharq Al-Awsat reported.
