When a US bipartisan commission visited Egypt in March to collect information on the situation of the Coptic Christian minority, its members were surprised at the frosty welcome.

The commission was received by the two most senior Christian and Muslim religious leaders, the Coptic Patriarch, Shenouda III, and the Sheikh of Al Azhar, Mohamed Ali Tantawi, but was boycotted by many other Egyptians it wanted to meet.

Vehement criticism of the visit came from both Muslims and Christians and from sources as diverse as the Muslim Brotherhood, the state-run media and human rights groups. A torrent of platitudes about national unity was unleashed in the press along with vigorous denials that there were any problems between "the two elements of the nation", as the local cliche goes.

But behind the rhetoric, there was genuine apprehension that an already sensitive relationship would be made more complicated by meddling from outsiders.

"I don't want the Copts to be perceived as being defended by foreigners or to be seen as protegees of the Americans because we would pay a price for that. We would be looked upon even more as undeserving of confidence," says Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nur, the Coptic deputy, who led the attack in parliament against the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

The only Coptic opposition member in the People's Assembly, Mr Abdel Nur, says he is opposed to foreign interference in relations between the Muslim majority and the Copts, who are estimated to make up about 10 per cent of the population.

His stance is not surprising, given the genesis of the US commission. It was established in 1999 after Congress enacted legislation imposing sanctions on countries seen to be engaged in religious persecution. Coptic activists based in the US had been extremely vocal in lobbying for that law and in demanding that the US cut aid to Egypt because of what they describe as its mistreatment of Coptic citizens.

But such activism, often based on exaggerated claims of persecution, is seen as counter-productive by Coptic leaders inside the country.

"The fuss the expatriates make has backfired and damaged relations between Copts and Muslims," says Youssef Sidhom, the editor of Watani, a Coptic newspaper. His hard-hitting editorials often highlight instances of discrimination against Copts, but like Pope Shenouda, he favours a gradualist non-confrontational approach, even if it yields results slowly.

In March, Pope Shenouda sent a bishop to the US to urge the expatriate groups not to engage in any protests which would mar President Hosni Mubarak's first visit to Washington under the Bush administration.

"There are some Copts abroad who try to create storms even when there are no problems," he said in an interview at the time. "Similarly, there are some public officials here who create problems unnecessarily."

He was referring to local officials who had razed a building belonging to a church just outside Cairo. Mr Mubarak ordered it rebuilt at local authority expense as soon as he was informed.

The president and the patriarch have a good working relationship, says Dr Mostapha El Fekki, the deputy chairman of the foreign affairs committee in parliament. As a former presidential aide responsible for contacts with the church, Mr El Fekki says that many complaints of Copts are resolved through high-level contacts between the church and the presidency.

"Islamic fundamentalism has been responsible for a large part of the problem," says Dr El Fekki. "But, of course, Muslims suffered as much as Copts. Whenever the government has taken balanced measures and dealt with people according to the sole criterion of citizenship, this has helped in avoiding sectarian problems."

But critics charge that because it is fighting an Islamist opposition which accuses it of straying from God's path, the government often fails to send clear signals about its commitment to equality.

The state's handling of the relationship received international attention once again in February after a controversial court verdict in what is considered the worst case of sectarian violence in Egypt in modern times.

Twenty Copts and one Muslim were killed in clashes at the beginning of last year in the southern village of Al Kosheh. A dispute between a Coptic merchant and a Muslim client had sparked off an armed confrontation which drew in people from neighbouring villages.

Copts were outraged when the court failed to find anyone out of 96 defendants guilty of murder. The prosecution has now appealed the verdict that had renewed allegations that the state was anxious not to appear to be siding with its Christian citizens.

Critics of the government, however, agree that it has moved to address some of the Copts' grievances in the past two years. State radio and television now carry live broadcasts of the Christmas and Easter masses. The education minister, described by Mr Sidhom, as "a reformer" has been purging schoolbooks of texts which incite hatred against Christians.

A decree by Mr Mubarak has also removed the requirement for presidential consent before repairs could be carried out on churches, although the president still has to approve requests for new churches.

Copyright: The Financial Times Limited