E/CN.4/2003/66/Add.1 page 19 99. In general, the Christian minorities do not feel their religious observance brings them any problems. Only one case of a church being seized has been reported: this was the St. Marcienne church in Algiers, which was used by Middle Eastern copts. It has been turned into a mosque. 100. It is said that the authorities refused to allow Trappist monks to return to the monastery of Notre Dame de l’Atlas in Tibherine on safety grounds. After three years of fruitless applications, the monks finally abandoned the attempt. 101. It is important to mention the letter sent by the Minister of Religious Affairs to the Algerian ambassador to the United States dated 21 July 1998, a copy of which was given to the Special Rapporteur during his visit. The letter concerned the takeover of a dilapidated synagogue by a suburb of Algiers with a view to its restoration and conversion into a library. In view of the complaints to which this gave rise, the synagogue was restored to its owners. 102. Although reference was made to stones being thrown at Christian places of worship, and to insults, the representatives of the Christian minorities prefer to stress the great support they have always enjoyed from the Algerian people, even at the most difficult times, explaining that the incidents concerned involved children on their way home from a nearby school and had occurred during a period of tension over affairs in the Middle East. 103. It was observed, however, that the religious minorities are very discreet and give no sign of their religious affiliation in public. The sisters of Mother Teresa’s order, who are the only ones to wear religious robes, and who look after the children of poor families during the day, are said to have been directly targeted by the sermons of one imam warning parents against the dangers of their children being converted to Christianity. 104. According to one non-governmental informant, the Christian minorities were explicitly prohibited from witnessing before Algerians, who are quite generally uneasy about being seen in the company of religious people other than Muslims. 105. For a long time, the State reportedly banned imports of religious books; it later authorized them, but in Arabic only. The United Bible Societies, which distributed the Bible, were closed in 1983-1984 on security grounds. The person in charge is said to have been abducted and threatened if he did not cease all operations. 106. Today, imports of religious books are subject to authorization from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which countersigns the order forms. In 1998 the Ministry allowed 1,866 religious books to be imported, including 33 Bibles in Arabic. Importing Bibles in Arabic is still difficult, however, and Bibles handed out in Marseille to Algerians going home to Algeria are often said to be seized by Algerian Customs officers. 107. Religious instruction dispensed by religious minorities concerns only a small number of children, given the few foreigners in Algeria. It is also dispensed to foreign students, most of them from Africa. All colonial era religious schools have, like many churches, been ceded to the State.