Call for minorities to unite

An Egyptian political scientist has called for a new coalition of national and religious minorities from the Middle East during a lecture he delivered in London.

Masri Feki, who lives in France, wants to see a new regional framework in the Middle East which recognises national diversity and religious rights.

At a talk at the London Middle Eastern Institute of the School of Oriental and African Studies last week, he rejected "exclusivist" ideologies such as pan-Arabism and pan-Islamism.

Instead, he advocated the idea of "Middle Easternism", which conceives of the region as a "fascinating mosaic of cultures and beliefs" rather than a "monolithic bloc".