State Security Investigations Service arrested yesterday in Agami, Alexandria 13 evangelical Christians for proselitizing. The arrests were made at a meeting with Father Antonios of the Orthodox Church.

Naguib Gobrail, president of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, described the arrest of the 13 youths under the Emergency Law as illegal, given that their activities had nothing to do with terrorism or drugs, which make up the entire remit of the Emergency Law since its amendment this month.

Gobrail said he had a phone conversation with a senior security official who confirmed that the 13 Christians had been arrested, and who added that Egypt is not in need of "yet another source of tension". Gobrail also talked with Safwat el-Bayadi, president of the Evangelical Organization, who expressed his regret over the incident.

In a related development, the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox church instructed the synod's media committee to supervise Coptic television channels and report on their performance.

Meanwhile, Zakaria Boutros, a radical Coptic priest, confirmed two days ago that his program on Al-Hayah channel has been suspended, as was reported by the BBC last week. Boutros said he is launching a new TV channel that "promises salvation" to the Muslims of the Arab World.