A CAIRO court on Monday upheld an interior ministry ban on an Egyptian Copt from making a pilgrimage to Christian holy sites in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, court officials said. Lawyer Adel Mikhail visited Israel’s embassy in the Egyptian capital in 2000 to apply for a visa, but he was stopped by Egyptian guards who told him first to ask for authorisation from the interior ministry. The ministry declined to grant permission and he appealed in court for the decision to be overturned. In its ruling, the administrative court said “the state, as represented by the ministry, has the right to ban its citizens from travelling to any state, notably Israel, to protect them and protect their lives.” It noted that the Coptic patriarch, Pope Shenuda III, also prohibits members of his community from making pilgrimages to Jerusalem — despite Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel — until east Jerusalem is returned to the Arabs. The Coptic — or Egyptian Christian — community numbers 5,8-million out of Egypt’s 66,5-million population, according to official figures. – AFP