Zahi Hawass, do not rubbish us with stories of coexistence...

An eight-year, $14.5 million restoration of St. Anthony’s Monastery, said to be the world’s oldest Christian monastery, was officially unveiled by Egypt on Thursday. Officials said the 1,600-year-old monastery, in the Red Sea Mountains, was evidence of Christian-Muslim coexistence. The unveiling came a month after Egypt’s worst sectarian violence in over a decade, in which gunman killed seven people outside a church on Coptic Orthodox Christmas Eve. “The announcement we are making today shows to the world how we are keen to restore the monuments of our past, whether Coptic, Jewish or Muslim,” said Zahi Hawass, general secretary of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Come on, Mr Zahi.  The monastery has in the past been looted again and again by the Muslims living in its environment.  The major reason for restoration is the availability of foreign money, and the fact that this monastery is a tourist attraction.  Don't rubbish us with stories of coexistence...