Five Egyptian Coptic Christians
were injured on Sunday in clashes with Muslims at a church in a village south
of Cairo, security sources said.
The violence took place as Muslim
villagers attempted to block access to the church as the Coptic faithful arrived
from throughout the area to attend Sunday mass.
Calm was restored after police
intervened, the official Mena news agency reported.
Such sectarian clashes are quite
frequent between the Copts, who make up 6-10% of Egypt's 83 million population,
and Muslims, particularly in rural areas.
The latest violence came on the
eve of a vote among Egypt's Coptic Christians for a new spiritual leader on
Monday after Pope Shenuda III died in March, leaving behind a community anxious
about its status under an Islamist-led government.
Five candidates - two bishops and
three monks - are vying to become the 118th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of
all Africa on the Holy See of St Mark the Apostle.
A 2 500-member council made up of
senior clergy, current and former Coptic public officials, MPs, local
councillors and journalists will cast ballots to choose their preferred new
pope.
Egypt's Christians have regularly
complained of discrimination and marginalisation, even under the secular regime
of president Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled last year.
The rise of Islamists since, and
the election of the country's first Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, have
sparked fears of further persecution at home despite Morsi's repeated promises
to be a president "for all Egyptians".
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