Im stephen sackur. In just a few days from now, pope francis will fly to egypt to offer his personal support to egypts Coptic Christians. Hell find a community filled with apprehension, targeted byjihadist extremists, and subject to persistent discrimination and sectarian violence. Elsewhere in the middle east, in syria and iraq, the plight of christians is even worse. My guest today is the general bishop of the Coptic Church in the uk, bishop angaelos. Do christians have any future at all in the middle east . Bishop angaelos, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you. Do you think there is something substantively different about the nature of the threat faced by Coptic Christians in egypt today . Because they have faced threats for many, many years. Yes. We have faced threats for centuries, and particularly over the past decades, but to have Suicide Bombers in churches is is a shift, and it looks like the mirroring of attacks in other parts of the world. And think that is why it has shocked the
places he knows well. is that the drums of war we hear? certainly from some corners. how does the iran-israel showdown end? i ve got a great panel. i ll also bring you an amazing story. free and fair electrics in china. i ll explain. first, here s my take. president obama has been trying to cool down the war fever that suddenly gripped washington earlier this month. prime minister benjamin netanyahu s visit and the flurry of statemen surrounding it have created a dangerous dynamic. it is easy to see how things move toward war. it is difficult to see how they don t. the pressure is building on iran, but there are no serious discussions of negotiated solutions. israel has already discounted the proposed new talks. republican candidates will denounce any deal no matter how presencive the inspections. either iran suddenly and completely surrenders or israel will strike. and bebe netanyahu knows that the window presented by the u.s. political season is closing. if he were to strik