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| Africa North |
| Egyptian Police Prevent Pro-Christian Protest, Arrest Activists |
| 2008-06-12 |
| Egyptian police on Monday prevented groups of Christian Copts congregating inside a church in east Cairo from staging a protest against government inaction in recent acts of violence against members of Egypt's Coptic minority. Police cordoned off the church in the Zaytun district Monday evening and security forces were deployed across the area to prevent protestors inside the church from taking to the streets. Acts of violence occurring in the past two weeks, which are believed to be religiously motivated, have angered Copts, whose number is estimated at be around 10 million in the country's predominantly Sunni Muslim population of 75 million In Zaytun, a Coptic jeweller was shot dead in his shop along with three Christian workers by unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle. Another worker was badly injured in the incident. A few days later, a historic monastery in the southern town of Malawi was attacked by armed men from the local Muslim community of Bedouin. A Muslim man was killed and four Coptic priests were injured in the attack. The protestors voiced their anger at what they perceive as bias against Copts shown by police investigators and prosecutors. Authorities are accused of not exerting enough effort to arrest assailants in attacks against Copts and not unveiling the identities of those they arrest. Police also prevented a group of Muslim youths from staging a street demonstration Monday evening in Zaytun in solidarity with Copts. Eight activists, mostly bloggers and journalists, were held then later freed by police. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |