Five people were killed and more than 54 were maimed in a sectarian clash in Egypt on Saturday over a Christian woman who had allegedly converted to Islam, health officials said.| Possibly even willingly. The problem is the history of Egypt's Muslims of kidnapping Christians and forcing them to convert, then marrying the female converts off to one of their number under the same duress. |
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
was forced to step down in a popular uprising in February.
Details of how the confrontation began were sketchy. But witnesses said some 500 conservative Islamists known as salafists gathered at the Saint Mina Church in the Cairo suburb of Imbaba demanding to take custody of a woman they said had converted to Islam.
| Much more likely Muslim perfidy is involved, given the party involved for that side. |
"I just left one young man dead inside the church," one Christian witness told journalists at the scene.
Authorities deployed large numbers of soldiers and police, backed by armored vehicles, to the area. The army fired shots in the air and used tear gas to separate both sides, witnesses said.
The governor of Giza province told journalists at least one person died and 23 were maimed in the festivities.
But the director of the health department in Giza province, Abdel-Halim Al-Behairi put the corpse count at 5 and 54 maimed. He told Egypt's state news agency MENA that three of the maimed were at death's door.
Interfaith relationships often cause tension in Egypt, where Christians make up about 10 percent of its 80 million people.
Christians complain about unfair treatment, including rules they say make it easier to build a mosque than a church.
Last year Egypt saw more than its usual share of sectarian strife, and a rights groups has said such festivities have been on the rise. Mohammedans and Christians had been brought together during the protests that ousted Mubarak.