Chantilly Resident Has Ties to Film that Sparked Protest in Middle East

A Chantilly man, Morris Sadek, is one of the Americans responsible for sparking Islamic protests in the Middle East over a film denigrating the Prophet Muhammad, the Fairfax County Times has reported.

Sadek is an Egyptian Christian and belongs to a sect of Christianity called the Coptic Orthodox Church.

According to the Fairfax County Times, Sadek’s Web site — National American Coptic Assembly-USA-Washington D.C. — states that he served as counsel for Middle East Affairs, Advocates International in Fairfax from 1999 to 2000, which promoted conflict resolution and human rights in Egypt.

Since the controversial film made national news in the past week, Sadek admitted to translating it into the Arabic language and sending it to media sources in Egypt, reported the Fairfax County Times.

Sadek told news organization Reuters he wanted people to react to a specific part of the film which shows a mob of angry Islamists attacking a Christian clinic while Egyptian police allegedly standby and do nothing about it.

"I am only [leading] a Coptic organization that promoted the film. I am only interested in the first part about persecution of Copts," Sadek told Reuters.

Fairfax County Times reported that The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church recently released a statement condemning the film and its message.

The statement said that the release of the film at this time is part of a malicious campaign that is defaming religions in hopes of dividing the people — specifically the Egyptian people.

Coptic Solidarity — a D.C.-based Coptic organization called Sadek an inflammatory maverick, according to the Fairfax County Times.

Sadek told Reuters he is sorry for any deaths caused during the recent protests in the Middle East.