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COPTIC CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS CLASH IN EGYPT
PanARMENIAN.Net
August 2, 2012 - 20:10 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - At least 16 people have been wounded after Muslims
attacked a church and Christian homes in a village near the Egyptian
capital, Cairo, officials say, according to BBC News.
The unrest in Dahshur, about 40km (25 miles) south of Cairo, started
after a Muslim man died of wounds sustained in an earlier clash
on Friday.
Violence frequently flares between Egypt's Muslim majority and its
Coptic Christian minority.
It is the first instance since Mohammed Mursi took over as president
in June.
Last October, a suicide attack on a church in Alexandria killed
24 people.
Police in Dahshur early on Wednesday fired teargas to stop a Muslim
mob from setting fire to a church, but the rioters instead torched
several Christian properties and three police cars, officials said.
Ten policemen were among the 16 injured, according to the authorities.
The office of the local Coptic archbishop of Giza said the entire
Christian population of Dahshur had now fled, according to the
Associated Press.
The rioters "looted and torched shops, including a jewellery shop...
and terrorised the local community, forcing them to leave their homes",
the agency quoted the statement as saying.
Tension first erupted on Friday after a Christian laundry worker was
accused by a Muslim client of singeing his shirt while ironing it.
Villagers from both sides threw fire-bombs at each other, fatally
wounding a Muslim.
The man died of his injuries on Tuesday and was buried overnight,
sparking the latest unrest.
About 10% of Egyptians are Coptic Christians.
They fear that more radical forms of Islam, resurgent since the fall
of former President Hosni Mubarak, could imperil their safety in Egypt.
PanARMENIAN.Net
August 2, 2012 - 20:10 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - At least 16 people have been wounded after Muslims
attacked a church and Christian homes in a village near the Egyptian
capital, Cairo, officials say, according to BBC News.
The unrest in Dahshur, about 40km (25 miles) south of Cairo, started
after a Muslim man died of wounds sustained in an earlier clash
on Friday.
Violence frequently flares between Egypt's Muslim majority and its
Coptic Christian minority.
It is the first instance since Mohammed Mursi took over as president
in June.
Last October, a suicide attack on a church in Alexandria killed
24 people.
Police in Dahshur early on Wednesday fired teargas to stop a Muslim
mob from setting fire to a church, but the rioters instead torched
several Christian properties and three police cars, officials said.
Ten policemen were among the 16 injured, according to the authorities.
The office of the local Coptic archbishop of Giza said the entire
Christian population of Dahshur had now fled, according to the
Associated Press.
The rioters "looted and torched shops, including a jewellery shop...
and terrorised the local community, forcing them to leave their homes",
the agency quoted the statement as saying.
Tension first erupted on Friday after a Christian laundry worker was
accused by a Muslim client of singeing his shirt while ironing it.
Villagers from both sides threw fire-bombs at each other, fatally
wounding a Muslim.
The man died of his injuries on Tuesday and was buried overnight,
sparking the latest unrest.
About 10% of Egyptians are Coptic Christians.
They fear that more radical forms of Islam, resurgent since the fall
of former President Hosni Mubarak, could imperil their safety in Egypt.