CWN - The spokesman for the Catholic Church in Egypt welcomed new anti-terrorism legislation signed into law by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

A US State Department spokesman expressed concern that the legislation “could have a significant detrimental impact on human rights and fundamental freedoms, including due process safeguards, freedom of association, and freedom of expression.”

Egypt is “at war with terrorism, and these new laws are very good and necessary,” Father Rafic Greiche told AsiaNews.

Praising President el-Sisi, who assumed power in 2013, Father Greiche said that “today we feel safer. Not quite safe I would say, because sometimes the Muslim Brotherhood or other terrorist groups put a bomb, and people are tired of these threats. Still, overall we feel safer.”