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Reporting from Cairo— Gunfire rang out as a priest and his congregation prayed Sunday inside a church that hours earlier had been set on fire by a Muslim mob in a wave of deadly sectarian violence threatening Egypt's aspirations for a new democracy.
Riot police fired into the air to disperse the crowd outside the Virgin Mary Church in an impoverished neighborhood of Cairo. The noise startled about 30 Coptic Christians who had spent the morning sweeping up charred vestments and burned Scriptures after a night of clashes that left 12 people dead and more than 230 wounded.
"Welcome to hell," said Samuel Maher, standing in the scorched vestibule as a woman wept nearby in a pew beneath a melted ceiling fan. Congregants leaned against blackened walls in disbelief as Father Metias, a wooden cross in his hand, spoke into the light of a TV camera about the intensifying danger of sectarian hatred.
"A lot of Muslims and extremists are being manipulated in the name of religion," said Father Metias, who goes by one name. "They come to attack us after they are brainwashed and incited against us."
The bloodshed unnerved the country's military-led government. Acting Prime Minister Essam Sharaf canceled a trip to the Persian Gulf and called an emergency Cabinet session to deal with the crisis. The army said the 190 people arrested in the clashes would face military tribunals as a "deterrent to all those who think of toying with the potential of the nation."
The sharp rise in tensions come as ultraconservative Islamists have grown emboldened after the fall of President Hosni Mubarak in February. Attacks on Christians also point to the government's failure to establish law and order by rebuilding police and security forces. The deepening religious intolerance is hurting Egypt's image and further jeopardizing tourism and foreign investment. About 5,000 Copts staged a sit-in Sunday night in downtown Cairo demanding an end to persecution.
Copts make up about 10% of Egypt's population and have coexisted with Muslims for generations. Violence against Christians, however, became more pronounced last year after Muslim gunmen killed six parishioners outside a church in southern Egypt. In January, at least 21 people died in a church bombing in Alexandria. The attacks suggested that Mubarak's police state couldn't — or chose not to — stem extremist Islamic elements.
Mistrust between religions has spread since Mubarak was forced from power. Ultraconservative Islamists, known as Salafis, have taken to streets and mosques with fiery rhetoric. Stores selling alcohol have been attacked and a man accused of befriending prostitutes had an ear cut off by radicals. Muslim crowds stopped trains and protested in April against the appointment of a Christian governor in the southern region of Qena.
"This hatred is not new, but before, the Salafis were afraid of Mubarak's police," said David Saleeb, standing outside the Virgin Mary Church, a cross tattooed on his forearm. "But now there is no security and they are free to attack. They want to turn this neighborhood into a place of Sharia law. They want full control."
A Muslim nearby spoke the sentiments of many here by spinning out conspiracies behind the bloodshed.
"I've lived here 30 years and there have been no problems," said Hassan Ibrahim. "But people are trying to create trouble. Egypt is rising in power and this may not be in the interests of the U.S. and Israel. These things can be exploited by the Salafis or even former members of Mubarak's ruling party."
The violence that erupted in the littered, pocked streets of the Imbaba neighborhood began Saturday evening when rumor spread that a Christian woman who converted to Islam after marrying a Muslim had been abducted and was being held in the Church of St. Mena. There was no proof that there was a woman in the church, but interfaith marriages have sparked a number of clashes in recent years.
One of incident involved Camilia Shehata, the wife of a Coptic priest. Salafis alleged for months that she had tried to leave her husband to become a Muslim but was locked inside a monastery. On Saturday, hours before the clashes in Imbaba, Shehata appeared on a television show saying she was "born a Christian and would die a Christian."
Hundreds of Copts hurried to protect the Church of St. Mena against growing crowds of Muslims. Gunfire erupted. Coptic homes and shops were attacked and gasoline bombs hurled. A group of Muslim men reportedly broke off later and headed toward the Virgin Mary Church. They burned it and clashed with parishioners for hours.
By morning, riot police and soldiers had surrounded Virgin Mary, pushing back onlookers and occasionally firing into the air to break up Christian and Muslims crowds. Cellphone cameras were pointed at the church's scorched walls. Parishioners slipped through security lines and toward the scent of smoke and soggy, black bags of debris stacked near a pew.
Father Metias, who had led a Mass earlier, sat in a blackened corner. A husband and wife held hands. A woman screamed. A child sobbed. Gunshots echoed and the small band of followers rushed toward the burned door but then hurried back inside, not knowing where was safer.
"It's an absolute mess," said Rania Roushdy, a parishioner at Virgin Mary for 20 years, who stood in the ashes with tears in her eyes. "We can't protect ourselves. Every time we call for foreign help they tell us to be quiet. These Islamists want a country without Christians. But we will never stop coming to this church, even if they turn it into empty land."
Samuel Maher stood in the dim light with stained hands and a tired face. He and other men put the fire out at 4 a.m. The firefighters arrived late and were scared and inexperienced. The men in the neighborhood, he said, took their hoses and fought the blaze themselves.
"When the crowd came there were five or six men dressed like Salafis, wearing beards. The rest were dressed normally," Maher said. "They started shooting into the air to chase people away. They broke in and burned four of the five floors. We found one dead man, the caretaker. He had been shot and burned."
Egypt religious violence: 12 dead in Muslim-Coptic Christian clashes in Egypt - latimes.com
Riot police fired into the air to disperse the crowd outside the Virgin Mary Church in an impoverished neighborhood of Cairo. The noise startled about 30 Coptic Christians who had spent the morning sweeping up charred vestments and burned Scriptures after a night of clashes that left 12 people dead and more than 230 wounded.
"Welcome to hell," said Samuel Maher, standing in the scorched vestibule as a woman wept nearby in a pew beneath a melted ceiling fan. Congregants leaned against blackened walls in disbelief as Father Metias, a wooden cross in his hand, spoke into the light of a TV camera about the intensifying danger of sectarian hatred.
"A lot of Muslims and extremists are being manipulated in the name of religion," said Father Metias, who goes by one name. "They come to attack us after they are brainwashed and incited against us."
The bloodshed unnerved the country's military-led government. Acting Prime Minister Essam Sharaf canceled a trip to the Persian Gulf and called an emergency Cabinet session to deal with the crisis. The army said the 190 people arrested in the clashes would face military tribunals as a "deterrent to all those who think of toying with the potential of the nation."
The sharp rise in tensions come as ultraconservative Islamists have grown emboldened after the fall of President Hosni Mubarak in February. Attacks on Christians also point to the government's failure to establish law and order by rebuilding police and security forces. The deepening religious intolerance is hurting Egypt's image and further jeopardizing tourism and foreign investment. About 5,000 Copts staged a sit-in Sunday night in downtown Cairo demanding an end to persecution.
Copts make up about 10% of Egypt's population and have coexisted with Muslims for generations. Violence against Christians, however, became more pronounced last year after Muslim gunmen killed six parishioners outside a church in southern Egypt. In January, at least 21 people died in a church bombing in Alexandria. The attacks suggested that Mubarak's police state couldn't — or chose not to — stem extremist Islamic elements.
Mistrust between religions has spread since Mubarak was forced from power. Ultraconservative Islamists, known as Salafis, have taken to streets and mosques with fiery rhetoric. Stores selling alcohol have been attacked and a man accused of befriending prostitutes had an ear cut off by radicals. Muslim crowds stopped trains and protested in April against the appointment of a Christian governor in the southern region of Qena.
"This hatred is not new, but before, the Salafis were afraid of Mubarak's police," said David Saleeb, standing outside the Virgin Mary Church, a cross tattooed on his forearm. "But now there is no security and they are free to attack. They want to turn this neighborhood into a place of Sharia law. They want full control."
A Muslim nearby spoke the sentiments of many here by spinning out conspiracies behind the bloodshed.
"I've lived here 30 years and there have been no problems," said Hassan Ibrahim. "But people are trying to create trouble. Egypt is rising in power and this may not be in the interests of the U.S. and Israel. These things can be exploited by the Salafis or even former members of Mubarak's ruling party."
The violence that erupted in the littered, pocked streets of the Imbaba neighborhood began Saturday evening when rumor spread that a Christian woman who converted to Islam after marrying a Muslim had been abducted and was being held in the Church of St. Mena. There was no proof that there was a woman in the church, but interfaith marriages have sparked a number of clashes in recent years.
One of incident involved Camilia Shehata, the wife of a Coptic priest. Salafis alleged for months that she had tried to leave her husband to become a Muslim but was locked inside a monastery. On Saturday, hours before the clashes in Imbaba, Shehata appeared on a television show saying she was "born a Christian and would die a Christian."
Hundreds of Copts hurried to protect the Church of St. Mena against growing crowds of Muslims. Gunfire erupted. Coptic homes and shops were attacked and gasoline bombs hurled. A group of Muslim men reportedly broke off later and headed toward the Virgin Mary Church. They burned it and clashed with parishioners for hours.
By morning, riot police and soldiers had surrounded Virgin Mary, pushing back onlookers and occasionally firing into the air to break up Christian and Muslims crowds. Cellphone cameras were pointed at the church's scorched walls. Parishioners slipped through security lines and toward the scent of smoke and soggy, black bags of debris stacked near a pew.
Father Metias, who had led a Mass earlier, sat in a blackened corner. A husband and wife held hands. A woman screamed. A child sobbed. Gunshots echoed and the small band of followers rushed toward the burned door but then hurried back inside, not knowing where was safer.
"It's an absolute mess," said Rania Roushdy, a parishioner at Virgin Mary for 20 years, who stood in the ashes with tears in her eyes. "We can't protect ourselves. Every time we call for foreign help they tell us to be quiet. These Islamists want a country without Christians. But we will never stop coming to this church, even if they turn it into empty land."
Samuel Maher stood in the dim light with stained hands and a tired face. He and other men put the fire out at 4 a.m. The firefighters arrived late and were scared and inexperienced. The men in the neighborhood, he said, took their hoses and fought the blaze themselves.
"When the crowd came there were five or six men dressed like Salafis, wearing beards. The rest were dressed normally," Maher said. "They started shooting into the air to chase people away. They broke in and burned four of the five floors. We found one dead man, the caretaker. He had been shot and burned."
Egypt religious violence: 12 dead in Muslim-Coptic Christian clashes in Egypt - latimes.com
