The Age/Jailan Zayan
DPA adds this howler to the story: Clashes between Egypt’s Christian and Muslim populations are rare, but tensions do periodically erupt.
Thanks to Dhumme Dhimmi
Coptic Christians have pelted Muslim shops with stones in a southern Egyptian town where Muslim gunmen killed six Copts after a Christmas Eve mass, a security official said.
The town of Nagaa Hammadi has been on edge since Wednesday night’s shooting, the country’s deadliest sectarian attack in years, in which a policeman was also killed.
A security official said police moved in to contain the violence and restore calm on Friday, and witnesses said access roads to Nagaa Hammadi were sealed off.
Residents in the nearby village of Bahgura said Muslims had set fire to Coptic homes and stores, but a police official denied this.
Earlier in the day police said that the three gunmen who took part in the Christmas attack had surrendered after being surrounded on a nearby farm.
But tensions remained high in Nagaa Hammadi, which also saw protests on Thursday during the funerals for the Christians killed in the attack when Copts clashed with police and pelted police cars with stones before being dispersed.
Muslims who attended the main weekly prayers in the town on Friday left swiftly afterwards and few people were on the streets, which were patrolled by plainclothes police.
“Of course we are scared. Muslims and Christians are scared. Our businesses will close. It will be a disaster for all of us,” Ashraf Mohammed, a Muslim butcher, told AFP.
The interior ministry said the three suspects – including town resident Mohammed el-Kamuni whom the interior ministry earlier identified as el-Kawmi – surrendered on Friday morning after being encircled on the farm.
Even if they are brought to trial, it would be the first time Mohammedans are convicted for murdering Christians….
The suspects all have previous convictions, the ministry added.
Police believe Wednesday night’s attack was related to the alleged rape of a Muslim girl by a Coptic man in the nearby village of Farshut in November.
This is utter BS. In Egypt, any allegation will bring out the Muslim mob….
Muslim villagers responded to that incident by burning Coptic-owned stores in Farshut and surrounding a police station where the Coptic suspect was held.
Nagaa Hammadi’s Bishop Kirilos said that for the past week some of his parishioners had received threatening phone calls.
The callers said Muslims “will avenge the rape of the girl during the Christmas celebrations,” Kirilos said.
He told AFP he had cut the Christmas Eve mass short because he feared something might happen, and asked priests not to attend because he did not want a large crowd in one place.
A senior Vatican official told the head of the Coptic Church on Friday that Christians must stick together against oppression.
“All Christians must remain united in the face of oppression and seek together the peace that only Christ can give,” Cardinal Walter Kasper told Pope Shenuda III, in a letter released by the Vatican.
Wednesday’s attack, in which six people were also wounded, further stoked feelings of alienation among Copts and was the deadliest since 20 of their number were killed in sectarian clashes in 2000, also in southern Egypt.
Copts, who account for nearly 10 per cent of Egypt’s population of 80 million, are the Middle East’s largest Christian community but complain of routine discrimination and harassment.
They have two ministers in government and several members of parliament, but face restrictions on building churches that must be approved by a presidential decree, and need security and provincial clearance to refurbish existing churches.
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No one is currently suggesting that ALL muslims are bad; that they fly jets into buildings, bomb nightclubs, buses, and so forth. The current situation at hand is that Muslims are attacking and killing Christians in their homes and in churches in Egypt (this has been the case for many years, but the worst has occured today and in the past few days). Why? If you were to attempt to find out what is the current population of Christians in Egypt today, most sources will tell you that Egypt holds the biggest population of Christians in the Middle East of nearly 10% of the total population of 80 million. But this is based on old records. This “10%” is extremely inaccurate. For the past few years, Muslims in Egypt have been secretly converting to Christianity and more recently more and more have been OPENLY (without secrecy) also converting to Christianity. It is now evident that the majority are the Christians and this doesn’t even put into consideration the thousands who have secretly converted and continue to do so. Subjectively speaking, I believe this is to be the reason behind the attacks. A desperate and pathetic attempt to scare the Christians and would-be Christians. Aside from the mass conversions, on the eve of the Coptic Orthadox Christmas (January 6th), thousands of Egyptians (both Muslim and Christians) witness the appearance of the Mother Mary, as her image hovered over the crowd and infront a large Cathedral. The next day, She made another appearance. This time, Her appearance was so large that she could be seen in the sky from miles away.
Thankyou pencilcase, an interesting report.
12,000 more people stand up against Islam in good old Melbourne.
‘12,000 people expected to march to the Egyptian consulate in the city tomorrow to protest over the killing of six Coptic Orthodox Christians in a drive-by shooting in Egypt last month.’
Keeping the faith in the shadow of persecution ANDRA JACKSON
January 13, 2010
http://www.theage.com.au/national/keeping-the-faith-in-the-shadow-of-persecution-20100112-m4qg.html