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SHOPS BELONGING TO CHRISTIANS TORCHED IN EGYPT
January 18, 2013 - 17:19 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of Muslim
protesters outside a church in southern Egypt Friday, Jan 18. The
demonstrators were demanding an investigation into allegations that
a Christian man sexually assaulted a 6-year-old girl, The Associated
Press reported.
Residents in the province of Qena said four shops owned by Coptic
Christians were torched overnight after villagers accused one of the
store owners of molesting the young girl.
The clashes took place in the village of Marashda in Qena province.
Residents said protesters threw stones at the local church after midday
Friday Islamic prayers. Police fired tear gas to scatter the crowd,
which is in one of Egypt's poorest areas.
Qena security director Gen. Salah Mazid was quoted in state media
saying that police are investigating the accusations against the
merchant.
Flare-ups of violence between Egypt's Christians and Muslims have
become more frequent in the past two years in the wake of the country's
uprising that ousted longtime President Hosni Mubarak but also weakened
security across the nation.
Egyptian Christians fear that the power vacuum that has followed
Mubarak's overthrow is giving ultraconservatives and extremist Muslims
a freer hand to attack churches and Coptic property, especially in
poor areas of the nation.
Egypt's Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the
country's 85 million people, have long complained of discrimination by
the state. They are the largest Christian community in the Middle East.
Clashes between Copts and Muslims are usually sparked by church
construction, land disputes or Muslim-Christian love affairs.
From: A. Papazian
January 18, 2013 - 17:19 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of Muslim
protesters outside a church in southern Egypt Friday, Jan 18. The
demonstrators were demanding an investigation into allegations that
a Christian man sexually assaulted a 6-year-old girl, The Associated
Press reported.
Residents in the province of Qena said four shops owned by Coptic
Christians were torched overnight after villagers accused one of the
store owners of molesting the young girl.
The clashes took place in the village of Marashda in Qena province.
Residents said protesters threw stones at the local church after midday
Friday Islamic prayers. Police fired tear gas to scatter the crowd,
which is in one of Egypt's poorest areas.
Qena security director Gen. Salah Mazid was quoted in state media
saying that police are investigating the accusations against the
merchant.
Flare-ups of violence between Egypt's Christians and Muslims have
become more frequent in the past two years in the wake of the country's
uprising that ousted longtime President Hosni Mubarak but also weakened
security across the nation.
Egyptian Christians fear that the power vacuum that has followed
Mubarak's overthrow is giving ultraconservatives and extremist Muslims
a freer hand to attack churches and Coptic property, especially in
poor areas of the nation.
Egypt's Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the
country's 85 million people, have long complained of discrimination by
the state. They are the largest Christian community in the Middle East.
Clashes between Copts and Muslims are usually sparked by church
construction, land disputes or Muslim-Christian love affairs.
From: A. Papazian