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Source: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/the_opening_in_egypt_u658vU1uOKLXVCSVKAW4rI
Egypt's Mosques Are Up for Grabs
(New York Post) Amir Taheri - Under Mubarak, the message from government-controlled mosques came in the form of Friday sermons written by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and faxed to imams on its payroll. Anyone who wished to hear a different tune had to go to clandestine mosques operated by Islamist groups. Most clandestine mosques now operate openly, with new mosques being built with money from Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich states. At the same time, the new Egyptian government has opened discussions about privatizing the state-owned mosques. This would mean the firing of over 100,000 government preachers, who'd then have to persuade the boards of privatized mosques to hire them. In protest, hundreds of preachers went on strike last week, refusing to deliver the Friday sermon.