December 9, 2011
One of Egypt's most prominent radical Islamic Salafist leaders said he would only accept a Coptic Christian president of Egypt if Israel, the U.S. and Britain accepted Muslim presidents of their countries, International Christian Concern reports. According to Yasser Burhami, head of the influential Salafist group, Copts do not have the right to run for political office in Egypt. He also said if Salafists took power, they would monitor women's attire, force tourists to abide by Islamic sharia law, and not allow religious minorities to hold festivals or mark their religion on national ID cards. Salafist parties have gained 20 percent of votes in the first round of Egypt's parliamentary elections and are poised to constitute, along with the majority Muslim Brotherhood, a large portion of the new governing body.