CAIRO (AFP) – Clashes between Muslims and Christians in the Egyptian capital Cairo left nine dead and more than 100 injured and a church was set on fire, medical and security officials said.
The two groups clashed after Muslims attacked the Coptic Saint Mena church in the working class neighbourhood of Imbaba to free a Christian woman they alleged was being held against her will because she wanted to convert to Islam.
A parish priest, Father Hermina, told AFP that at least five of the dead were Copts who died when "thugs and (Muslim fundamentalist) Salafis fired at them" in the late afternoon attack.
The Gospel had been laid on a body wrapped in a sheet that was lying inside the church. The church floor was bloodstained as wounded Christians were brought in for treatment.
Outside, military police parked several armoured cars to block off Muslim protesters.
They fired their guns into the air as Christians in front of the church and Muslim protesters down the street hurled stones at each other. The Muslim protesters threw firebombs, one of them setting an apartment near the church on fire.
"Oh God! Oh Jesus!" chanted the Coptic protesters. They scuffled with soldiers, blaming them for not doing enough to protect them.
The soldiers advanced at Muslim protesters who edged closer to the church, firing over their heads to repel them. Special forces were later deployed outside the church.
An officer ordered a soldier to escort an AFP journalist away from the church, saying "no journalists are allowed."
Hermina and witnesses had said the Muslims tried to storm the church earlier in the day, claiming the Christians were holding a Muslim woman.
Elsewhere in Imbaba, Muslim protesters threw firebombs at another church, setting it on fire, police officials said. They said the fire was put out.
At one of the cordons outside the St Mena church, Muslim protesters said they were first fired upon by the Copts, after they tried to find a Christian woman they say converted to Islam and was being held inside.
"They started firing on us. We were peaceful," said one of the protesters who gave his name as Mamduh. "We won't leave until they give up their weapons and the people who killed us are tried."
No weapons could be seen inside the church and the Copts there said they had none.
Egypt's mufti -- the government's chief interpreter of Islamic law -- Ali Gomaa condemned the clashes and said they "were toying with Egypt's national security."
The violence could not have been caused by "religious people who understand their religion, whether Muslim or Christian," he told the official MENA news agency.
Coppied by http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110508/wl_mideast_afp/egyptunrestreligionpoliticstoll
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