The head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Shenouda III, met on Monday with a delegation of seven Ethiopian clerics led by Ethiopia's archbishop.

In a statement to MENA, Shenouda's secretary, Anba Armia, said the meeting was dominated by a new atmosphere of understanding between Egypt and Ethiopia, which has developed since the 25 January revolution and the recent visit by interim Prime Minister Essam Sharaf to Ethiopia.

He noted that the guests praised Egypt's new stance and predicted stronger bilateral collaboration in the coming period.

He explained that cooperation between the Egyptian and Ethiopian churches on religious and spiritual matters would continue.

In early April, Shenouda resumed communications with Ethiopian church leaders to convince the government not to escalate the Nile crisis between Egypt and Sudan, which erupted after Ethiopia declared the construction of its Millennium Dam on the River Nile.

Egypt and Sudan fear the new dam will affect their share of Nile water.