Egypt's transitional government has called a crisis meeting after Muslim-Christian clashes in Cairo left 10 dead and cast a new cloud over hopes for peaceful post-revolutionary change.
A Coptic church in the Imaba neighbourhood was set on fire after fighting broke out over claims that a Christian woman was being held and prevented from converting to Islam.
Initials reports on Egyptian state TV said six Muslims and three Copts had been killed, and there were nearly 200 injured. The death toll later rose to 10. The army, sensitive to alarm about deteriorating security, was quick to announce that 190 people arrested in connection with the violence would be tried in military courts.
Eyewitness described how several hundred Muslims massed outside the St Mina church demanding the woman be surrendered. Gunfire rang out and stones and petrol bombs were thrown before the army and emergency services were able to bring the situation under control. A second church was burned down.
Imbaba, which has some of Cairo's worst slums, was quiet but tense on Sunday, with tanks, troops and police on the streets. Copts called for a march to the US embassy off Tahrir Square to demand international protection.
Egyptian media described the attackers as Salafis, strictly fundamentalist Muslims who want to see the imposition of sharia law. The Salafis, often with links to Saudi Arabia, are seen as having gained prominence because security is far less repressive now than before the revolution. It is also widely believed that elements of the Hosni Mubarak regime are encouraging them.
"It's the previous regime that is responsible for this," one resident said at the scene. George Ishaq, a pro-democracy activist, said: "We demand that the higher military council punish all those responsible. This is a crime, not sectarian strife."
The incident was quickly condemned by the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's main Islamist group. "We should crack down on that violence and not let those people ruin what we achieved in the January revolution," Essam El-Erian, the brotherhood spokesman, warned in a TV interview. "The Imbaba incident clearly shows that there are some people who are still working behind the scenes to ignite sectarian strife in Egypt."
Erian echoed suggestions that attacks were encouraged by members of the now disbanded National Democratic party, which ruled Egypt during the Mubarak era.
Last month 13 people died in similar Muslim-Coptic clashes in another neighbourhood of the capital. Copts make up about 10% of Egypt's 80 million people.
Over the weekend democracy activists held a conference to discuss the future of the revolution before parliamentary elections planned for September.
No comments:
Post a Comment