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Egypt Arrests 42 Muslims, Christians Following Sectarian Riots

   VOA News 10 January 2010
   An  Egyptian  woman looks out of her balcony from her partially burned
   house after attacks on Christian homes in the village of Bahjora, Qena
   province, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the famous ancient ruins
   of Luxor, Egypt, 09 Jan 2010.

Photo: AP

   An  Egyptian  woman looks out of her balcony from her partially burned
   house after attacks on Christian homes in the village of Bahjora, Qena
   province, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the famous ancient ruins
   of Luxor, Egypt, 09 Jan 2010

   Egyptian  authorities  have  arrested  42  people  in  connection with
   sectarian riots by Muslims and Christians in southern Egypt.
   Egypt's  state-run  MENA  news  agency quotes the police chief of Qena
   province  as  saying his forces have detained 28 Coptic Christians and
   14 Muslims since Friday's unrest.
   MENA  says  arsonists  burned  down 11 shops and eight houses owned by
   members  of  the  minority  Christian  sect  Friday  in the village of
   Bahjora.  Christians accuse Muslim rioters of setting the fires.
   A  day  earlier,  Christian  residents  of  a  nearby town took to the
   streets  to  protest  against  a  shooting  attack by suspected Muslim
   gunmen  that  killed six Christian worshippers and a Muslim policeman.
   Egyptian police used tear gas to disperse the Christian rioters.
   Several gunmen in a moving vehicle shot and killed the six worshippers
   Wednesday  as  they  left  a  Christmas Eve mass observed Wednesday in
   accordance with the Coptic calendar.
   Egyptian   police  Friday  detained  three  Muslim  men  suspected  of
   involvement  in  the drive-by shooting.  The three have prior criminal
   records.
   Officials  say  the  attack was in apparent retaliation for an alleged
   rape  of  a  Muslim  girl  by  a  Coptic  man in a nearby village last
   November.  Muslim  residents of Nag Hamadi burned and looted Christian
   properties  for  several  days  in  November  following reports of the
   alleged rape.
   Coptic  Christians  are  adherents of an Egyptian sect of Christianity
   that observes Christmas Day on January 7. Christians account for about
   10 percent of Egypt's population, the majority of which is Muslim.
   Sectarian  violence between Muslims and Christians occasionally erupts
   in southern Egypt due to family and land disputes.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

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