Egyptians warned of 'anti-revolutionaries' after clashes leave 12 dead

CAIRO // Egyptian media yesterday accused "anti-revolutionaries" of trying to trigger sectarian conflict, as a top cleric warned the country could be engulfed in civil war.

The government has vowed to use an "iron fist" to ensure national security after Saturday's deadly clashes in Cairo, branded by the Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei as "religious extremism of the Middle Ages".

The flagship state daily Al Ahram wrote: "We are facing the anti-revolutionary groups who are convinced that any success of the revolution was an even greater threat to their interests and so are trying to fuel confessional conflict."

Clashes broke out between Christians and Muslims in Cairo's working-class district of Imbaba where 12 people were killed, scores injured and a church set ablaze.

Among the dead were six Muslims and four Christians while two bodies were still unidentified. The two groups clashed after Muslims attacked the Coptic church of Saint Mena in Imbaba to free a Christian woman they alleged was being held against her will because she wanted to convert to Islam.

Since the departure of the former president, Hosni Mubarak, Egypt has been gripped by insecurity and sectarian unrest, amid, by the government's admission, a "counter-revolution" by remnants of the old regime aimed at sowing chaos.

Ali Gomaa, Egypt's grand mufti and chief interpreter of Islamic law, was quoted in the independent daily Al Masri Al -Yom as warning of the potential for civil war, "because of outlaws who want to defy the authority of the state".

The interior minister, Mansur al Issawi, denied rumours that weapons had been stored in Saint Mena church.

"Contrary to rumours that there were weapons inside the church, it was the owner of a cafe near the church who fired a gun," he said.

The Salafis, a puritanical Islamist sect accused of being behind the Imbaba clashes, denied they had any role in the violence.

A prominent Salafi cleric in Cairo, Abdel Moneim al Shahat, said the Imbaba confrontation "does not reflect the Salafist thought which prohibits the incitement of confessional conflict".

Saturday's violence also angered Mr ElBaradei, who called on Twitter for swift action against such "religious extremism and practices of the Middle Ages".

The Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution, an umbrella movement for the groups that launched the revolt against Mr Mubarak, said "the regrettable events at Imbaba are evidence of a catastrophic security failure" in Egypt, and criticised the military authorities for not having reacted in the absence of the police.

Meanwhile, 1,000 Copts continued their sit-in in front of the headquarters of the state television network yesterday in protest at what they called the authorities' "laxity" towards the attacks on Christians.

Egypt's government warned on Sunday it will use an "iron hand" to ensure national security after the clashes.

Authorities would "strike with an iron hand all those who seek to tamper with the nation's security," the justice minister, Abdel Aziz al Gindi, said after the cabinet held crisis talks on the violence.

Egypt's military rulers said 190 people detained in connection with the clashes would face military trial.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in power since Mr Mubarak was toppled, said the move was a "deterrent" to all those who sought to sow strife in the country.

In Brussels, the EU foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, urged Egypt to send a powerful signal to Muslims and Christians.

"I commend the prompt measures taken by the interim leadership to restore order, and I urge the authorities to bring those responsible for the violence to justice, before civilian courts," Ms Ashton said.

For months, Egypt has been experiencing a rise in sectarian tensions fuelled by claims that Christian women who converted to Islam were kidnapped and held in churches or monasteries.

Egyptian Copts account for up to 10 per cent of the country's 80 million population, which is overwhelmingly made up of Sunnis. The Copts complain of discrimination and have been the targets of sectarian attacks.