The Government of Egypt reports the Anglican Bishop of Egypt, Dr Mouneer Anis, has written to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (pictured) endorsing the call made by Islamic member states to ban blasphemy. The government statement comes as part of the Muslim Brotherhood government’s media response to the attack on the US embassy in Cairo by Muslim militants last week, ostensibly in response to a YouTube video that defamed the Prophet Mohammad. In a statement released on 16 September, the Egyptian State Information Service said Dr Anis had written to the UN chief the previous day urging him to “issue a declaration that prohibits blasphemy.” The Egyptian government said that in his letter, Dr Anis said a ban on blasphemy would “not run counter to freedom of speech, but it prevents using this right to insult religious sanctities. ‘We believe that mutual respect is the only way for peaceful coexistence’.” The Church of England Newspaper has not been able to confirm with Dr Anis or the Diocese of Egypt the veracity of the state information service’s claim, or whether Dr Anis’ letter was an endorsement of the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on 19 December 2011 condemning the stereotyping, negative profiling and stigmatization of people based on their religion, and urging countries to take effective steps “to address and combat such incidents.” Similar resolutions had been brought to the UN each year since 1999 by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) – a 56-member block of Muslim nation-states, but had been opposed by Western states. However, in 2011 the language of the resolution was changed with language condemning the “defamation” of religion dropped and a clause inserted that reaffirmed “the positive role that the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the full respect for the freedom to seek, receive and impart information can play in strengthening democracy and combating religious intolerance.” The amended resolution received the backing of the US and UK and the EU, though Poland’s ambassador questioned whether this resolution favoured one religion over others. After the vote, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said “the best way to treat offensive speech is by people either ignoring it or combating it with good arguments and good speech that overwhelms it.”