CAIRO: Youssef Ziedan, winner of this year’s Arabic Booker award for his controversial “Azazeel ((Beelzebub), dropped the libel and defamation lawsuit he had initiated against Coptic priest Father Abdel-Messeih Al Bassit.
Abdel-Messeih had allegedly offended Ziedan when he accused him of being an atheist in an interview with independent weekly El-Youm El-Sabei in June 2009.
“These words forced me to sue him, said Ziedan, who also heads the heritage and manuscript center at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
Father Abdel-Messeih, Priest of St. Mary Church in Mostorod, told Daily News Egypt that he was misunderstood by the press, adding that he was merely expressing his opinion about the novel.
Set in fifth century Upper Egypt, Alexandria and northern Syria, “Azazeel tells the story of an Egyptian Coptic monk battling his demons as the church proceeds to assert its dominance over the old receding religions.
The Egyptian Coptic Church has criticized the novel for allegedly attempting to destroy Christian doctrine, but was unsuccessful in its attempts to ban it.
During an Arab Writers Union forum held in Ramadan, Ziedan said that he was ready to drop the lawsuit if Father Abdel-Messeih made a public apology in the press.
He added that on the day preceding Eid Al-Fitr, Father Abdel-Messeih said that he was ready to apologize, which was why Ziedan dropped the case.
“I would have felt horrible if I saw a Christian priest behind bars in a libel and defamation lawsuit, he said.
Father Abdel-Messeih’s apology was published in the independent Al-Shorouk and El-Youm El-Sabei newspapers.
In a related note, Ziedan says that he was told that a new book called the “Ziedan Code by author Adel Guirguis Saad, had just come out aiming to decode “Azazeel.
