EGYPT:COPTIC CHRISTIANS holding a sit-in at Egypt's television building in central Cairo were forcibly dispersed early yesterday by troops.
Copts have been demanding the reconstruction of a church burned on March 4th in a village south of Cairo during clashes between Copts and Muslims triggered by a romantic affair between a Muslim girl and a Christian youth.
“Troops smashed the demonstration at 4am, removed fencing surrounding the protesters, and assaulted us using tasers and fists,” Haytham Zaghloul stated. Fourteen were hospitalised.
Fr Antonious, a leader of the demonstration, stated: “We ask the Egyptian military leader Field Marshal [Muhammad Hussein] Tantawi to apologise to the Copts and pay the cost of medical treatment for . . . casualties.”
The majority of those taking part in the vigil left the area on Sunday after armed forces engineers and soldiers moved onto the church site with equipment to prepare for construction. Copts who continued the protest doubted all their demands would be met, although representatives of their group had a positive meeting with prime minister Essam Sharaf.
“We have told him our demands, he asked for time to meet them and was co-operative,” asserted Hany Ramsis, a lawyer who took part in the discussions.
Other demands have already been met. Villagers forced from their homes have returned and the arson attack on the church is under investigation.
Dr Sharaf said more time would be needed to deal with the Copts’ call for the reopening of churches closed by state security, and for access to one-tenth of the television airtime accorded to Muslims for discussions on religious issues. One tenth of Egypt’s 80 million people are Copts.
The heavy-handed rout of the Copts is likely to sour relations between the Christians and the army as it prepares for reconstruction of the church. The armed forces command had previously used force while clearing small groups of demonstrators camped out in Tahrir Square.
Tension between the armed forces and the Copts has risen since last week when the military did not intervene for four hours in clashes between Copts and Muslims in the Cairo slum district of Moqattam. Thirteen people, seven Copts and six Muslims, were killed in the rioting, and more than 100 were injured.
Relations between Copts and Muslims improved greatly during the pro-democracy demonstrations that brought down the regime of Hosni Mubarak, which had practised a policy of divide and rule by fomenting trouble between Copts and Muslims, and by discriminating against Copts.
