By Tamim Elyan and Shaimaa Fayed
Egypt's Coptic Christians turned their fury against the army
on Monday after at least 25 people were killed when troops broke up a protest,
deepening public doubts about the military's ability to steer the country
peacefully toward democracy.
In the worst violence since
Hosni Mubarak was ousted, armored vehicles sped into a crowd late on Sunday to
crack down on a protest near Cairo's state television.
Online videos showed mangled
bodies. Activists said some people were crushed by wheels.
Tension between Muslims and
minority Coptic Christians has simmered for years but has worsened since the
anti-Mubarak revolt, which gave freer rein to Salafist and other strict
Islamist groups that the former president had repressed.
But much of the anger from Sunday's
violence targeted the army, accused by politicians from all sides of
aggravating social tensions through a clumsy response to street violence and
not giving a clear timetable for handing power to civilians.
Late on Monday, thousands
marched from Cairo's main cathedral to the Coptic hospital where most of the
wounded were treated, calling for religious unity and the removal of the head
of the ruling military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.
"Why didn't they do this
with the Salafists or the Muslim Brotherhood when they organize protests? This
is not my country any more," Alfred Younan, a Copt, said near the
hospital.
Church leaders called for
three days of fasting "for peace to return to Egypt."
The military council told the
interim government to investigate the clashes urgently and said it would take
necessary measures to maintain security, state TV said.
"This is a huge crisis
that could end in a civil clash. It could end in dire consequences," said
presidential hopeful Amr Moussa. "An immediate investigation committee
must be formed, with immediate results."
The clashes overshadow
Egypt's first parliamentary poll since Mubarak fell. Voting starts on November
28.
"One big problem Egypt
faces now is that, increasingly, there is no one in power with the authority
and credibility to calm the situation down," said a senior Western
diplomat.
"After (Sunday's)
events, there is an increasing risk that the military will come into conflict
with the people. The authority of the prime minister is dangerously eroded.
None of the presidential candidates yet has the standing."
AGITATORS
Christians make up 10 percent
of Egypt's roughly 80 million people. They took to the streets after accusing
Muslim radicals of partially demolishing a church in Aswan province last week.
They also demanded the
sacking of the province's governor for failing to protect the building.
On Monday, mourners packed the
Abbasiya cathedral, where Coptic Pope Shenouda prayed over candle-lit coffins
of the dead. Many wept and chanted slogans calling for Tantawi to step down.
The congregation wailed as
some held aloft bloodstained shirts and trousers. "With our souls and
blood we sacrifice ourselves for the cross," they cried.
Some protesters said
agitators, whom they described as thugs, sparked violence that prompted the
heavy-handed tactics.
The Health Ministry said 25
people were killed and 329 wounded, including more than 250 who were taken to
hospital.
Mina Magdy, a doctor at the
hospital, said it had dealt with 17 fatalities. Fourteen of the deaths were due
to bullet wounds and three were killed when vehicles ran over them, he said.
Streets near the state
television building had been largely cleared of debris on Sunday, but smashed
and burned vehicles lined streets in the area near the Coptic hospital, which
was also the scene of violence overnight.
Prime Minister Essam Sharaf,
appearing on state TV in the early hours of Monday, said the government's
attempts to build a modern, democratic state were being disrupted by security
concerns and talk of plots against democracy.
"We will not surrender to
these malicious conspiracies and we will not accept reverting back," he
said before the interim cabinet met and launched an investigation into the
violence.
Justice Minister Mohamed Abdel
Aziz el-Guindy said the investigation and any trials would be handled by
military courts. State newspaper Al Ahram said 15 people were being
investigated. State media had said dozens were detained.
GROWING FRUSTRATION
The United States urged
restraint and said the rights of minorities and the universal rights of
peaceful protest and religious freedom must be respected.
"These tragic events
should not stand in the way of timely elections and a continued transition to
democracy that is peaceful, just and inclusive," the White House said in a
statement.
European Union ministers
expressed alarm and said the authorities had a duty to protect religious
minorities.
The clashes add to the
growing frustration of pro-democracy activists with the generals who took over
from Mubarak. Many Egyptians suspect the army wants to wield power from behind
the scenes even as it hands day-to-day government to civilians.
The army council denies this.
It has yet to announce a date
for a presidential election. A staggered parliamentary vote that lasts till
March followed by drawing up a new constitution could push the vote back to the
end of 2012 or early 2013, leaving presidential powers in the hands of the
military council until then.
Presidential candidate Moussa
and other presidential hopefuls have demanded a swifter presidential vote on
April 1. Moussa told Reuters it was important that the violence did not derail
the election timetable.
Christians complain of
discrimination, citing rules that they say make it easier to build a mosque
than a church. Tensions have often in the past flared over inter-faith romantic
relationships, church building and other issues.
Protests erupted elsewhere in
Egypt including its second biggest city, Alexandria. Copts say promises by the
new rulers to address their concerns and protect them have been ignored.
"The new emerging faction
of Islamists and Salafists has created havoc since the January revolution ...
The problem is the severe reluctance of the cabinet and the authorities to
enforce the rule of law and protect the Copts," said Youssef Sidhom,
editor in chief of Orthodox Coptic newspaper al-Watani.
The cabinet said a
fact-finding committee would probe the violence in Cairo and Aswan and laws
would be changed to punish religious and other discrimination with prison terms
and fines.
It said a committee would
speed up the drafting of a new unified law regulating places of worship.
Christians have complained that mosques are far easier to build than churches.
Investors, who Egypt is
desperate to attract to plug a deep funding shortfall, sold Egyptian shares,
pushing the benchmark index down. The index closed down 2.3 percent.
(Additional reporting by, Maha
El Dahan, Shaimaa Fayed, Dina Zayed and Tom Pfeiffer in Cairo, David Brunnstrom in
Luxembourg and Laura
MacInnis in
Washington; Writing by Edmund Blair;
Editing by Maria
Golovnina)
Source : Reuters
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