Egypt's Largest Mosque, Church to Be Built in New Capital
El-Sisi made the announcement on Friday evening while visiting the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo for Coptic Christmas celebrations, which were attended by the Coptic Pope Tawadros II.
The Egyptian president, who is in power since he removed Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically-elected president, from power in 2013, also said that diversity and differences between people were created by God and should be respected.
"Only beauty has a place among us, ugliness has no place here," he said.
"Egypt will export good and light with all our help, we shall teach the region and the world love, peace, stability and security. Egypt will be great if we all deal [with each other] with honor, loyalty and peace," the president said.
"As I stand in one of God's houses, I pray for God to save you and save Egypt, and keep peace and stability in our country," El-Sisi concluded, al-Ahram reported.
This is the third time El-Sisi has paid an official visit to the Coptic Cathedral.
Last month, a suicide bomber killed 28 people and injured over 40 others at a Cairo church during Sunday prayers.
The proposed new capital of Egypt is a large-scale project announced by Egyptian housing minister Mostafa Madbouly at the Egypt Economic Development Conference in March 2015.
The new, yet-unnamed city is to be located 45 kilometers (28 miles) east of Cairo and just outside the Second Greater Cairo Ring Road in a currently largely undeveloped area halfway to the seaport city of Suez. According to the plans, the city would become the new administrative and financial capital of Egypt, housing the main government departments and ministries, as well as foreign embassies.
