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| The Protest in Egypt |
At least 23 people were killed and 193 injured Sunday in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, when a protest by Coptic Christians over the recent burning of a church escalated into rioting against military rule.
Twenty three people were killed in Cairo on Sunday, the health ministry said, when Christians, some carrying crosses and pictures of Jesus, clashed with military police in the latest sectarian flare-up in a country in political turmoil.
Christians protesting against an attack on a church say they were marching peacefully when thugs attacked them, drawing in military police who used what activists described as unnecessary force.
Protesters used firebombs, set army vehicles alight and battled with security forces in Egypt's most violent clashes since the February uprising that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak.
More than four vehicles were set ablaze and television footage showed army personnel carriers driving full speed towards crowds of protesters.
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| Flag of Egypt |
Christian demonstrators said a peaceful rally in the mostly Coptic neighborhood of Shubra turned deadly when the group marched to Egypt's Radio and Television Building where plainclothes police attacked them. The protests later spread to Tahrir Square, the focal point of the February revolution.
Protesters threw rocks and petrol bombs and set cars on fire, as thick smoke wafted through the streets in some of the most violent scenes since the uprising that ousted Mubarak.
In the past few weeks, riots have broken out at two churches in southern Egypt, prompted by Muslim crowds angry about church construction.
One clash took place near the city of Aswan after church officials agreed to a demand by local ultra-conservative Muslims, known as Salafis, that a cross and bells be removed from the church building.
The protesters want the government to fire the governor of Aswan Province, Mostafa al-Sayed, after the partial demolition of the church on Friday. Egyptian media said Muslims were accused of attacking the church after talk spread in the town that the building did not have legal authorisation.
Egyptian officials said they would investigate the causes of Sunday's violence, calling for calm.
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| Map of Egypt |
Christians make up about one-tenth of Egypt's 80 million people and often face attacks from Islamic extremists. Copts joined with Muslims during the protests that ousted Mr. Mubarak, but sectarian troubles have since intensified.
Egypt has been considering new laws designed to stem sectarian violence, including banning protests at places of worship and the use of religious slogans to incite hatred.
In May, 12 people were killed in sectarian clashes between Christians and Muslims after rumors spread that Christians were holding a woman who had converted to Islam.
CNN : President Barack Obama's spokesman criticized the Egyptian government on Tuesday for arresting and harassing journalists and rights activists, and called comments by Vice President Omar Suleiman that Egypt is not ready for democracy "particularly unhelpful."
The remarks by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs reflected a growing U.S. dissatisfaction with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Suleiman, the intelligence officer Mubarak chose as his deputy to bring about reforms demanded by protesters who have convulsed Cairo and the Egyptian economy for more than two weeks.
In another sign of U.S. frustration with the pace of reform in Egypt, Vice President Joe Biden, in a phone call Tuesday with Suleiman, pushed for more progress, according to a White House statement.
Biden urged "that the transition produce immediate, irreversible progress that responds to the aspirations of the Egyptian people," according to the White House statement.
It said the two vice presidents discussed "restraining the Ministry of Interior's conduct by immediately ending the arrests, harassment, beating and detention of journalists, and political and civil society activists, and by allowing freedom of assembly and expression; immediately rescinding the emergency law; broadening participation in the national dialogue to include a wide range of opposition members; and inviting the opposition as a partner in jointly developing a road map and timetable for transition."
So far, the Obama administration has been careful to call for democratic reforms in Egypt while also trying to maintain stability in a key Middle Eastern ally that is a vital Arab partner to Israel through the Camp David Accords of 1978.
With detentions, beatings and harassment of journalists and rights activists continuing, and the weekend comments by Suleiman that signaled a shaky commitment to the reforms offered by Mubarak, Gibbs made a point of directly criticizing both the vice president and the Egyptian government in a briefing with White House reporters.
"The government has got to stop arresting protesters and journalists, harassment, beatings, detentions of reporters, of activists, of those involved in civil society," Gibbs said. Previously, he and other U.S. officials, including Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, called for a halt to the crackdown on journalists and activists without directly saying that the Egyptian government was responsible.
Asked about Suleiman's comment, made in an interview with ABC, that Egypt lacks the necessary "culture of democracy" for the changes demanded by protesters, such as freedom of speech and the right to organize opposition parties, Gibbs said the words went against what was happening on the streets of Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt.
Suleiman met Sunday with some Egyptian opposition figures in preliminary talks that symbolized concession on both sides.
Some opposition figures had rejected any discussions until Mubarak stepped down, while a government statement issued on state TV after Sunday's meeting outlined future steps resulting from the meeting.
In a brief informal exchange with reporters on Monday, Obama said: "Obviously Egypt has to negotiate a path and I think they are making progress."
