E/CN.4/1990/46 page 14 41. On 8 December 1989, the Permanent Mission of Egypt communicated the reply of the Egyptian authorities to the Special Rapporteur's letter of 13 October 1989: "I. Confiscation and demolition of the house of the metropolitan of Deir Muwas by Muslims with the support of the District Commissioner "There used to be no independent metropolitanate in the town of Deir Muwas, which was part of the metropolitanate of Deirut. Immediately after the death of the last metropolitan in 1985, however, Patriach Shnuda separated them in preparation for the establishment of a new metropolitanate in Deir Muwas. "Towards the end of 1988, the members of the community concerned bought a house belonging to the heirs of one of them in order to make it into the unauthorized seat of the metropolitanate. This annoyed the Muslims who were convinced that the town did not need a new metropolitanate in view of the small number of community members living there (only 20 per cent) and of the fact that it already had a church and was close to the metropolitanates of Mallawi and Deirut. "The determination of the community members to convert the house into a metropolitanate without permission and the fact that they posted a sign on it bearing the name of the metropolitanate prompted a number of Muslim citizens to attack the building and destroy some of its contents. The incident resulted in the death of two Muslims when the security forces intervened to oppose them. Another 40 were arrested and brought before the public prosecutor, who ordered their imprisonment. "However, despite the Muslims' opposition to the appointment of a metropolitan to Deir Muwas, approval was given for him to proceed to his metropolitanate on 5 August 1989, after the necessary security measures had been adopted and the Muslims had been made to accept the arrangement. In fact, a large group of Muslims actually attended the celebration of the metropolitan's appointment and he is currently performing his religious duties normally and in peace. "There is no evidence that the Commissioner of the District of Deir Muwas played any part in this matter. "II. Confiscation by Sheikh Amr Abdul Aziz of a plot of land belonging to the evangelist church in the town of Deir Muwas "In 1980, members of the evangelist community in Deir Muwas (young people) undertook to build a public rest house belonging to the town's evangelist church on an adjacent plot of land, half of which was owned jointly by them and the other half by a Christian. They did so without obtaining the necessary permission from the competent authorities. The Muslim population resented this and some of them demolished walls that the Christians had built. However, Sheikh Amr Abdul Aziz Hamadin (one of the town's prominent and influential figures) managed to bring the situation under control and persuaded the Muslim youths to leave. Both sides reached an agreement, to the satisfaction of the Christians, whereby the plot of land would be handed over for public use in return for suitable compensation.