Coptic Pope Says Egypt Must Address Christians' Complaints, Ease Tensions
Pope Shenouda III, the leader of Egypt's Coptic Church, pleaded for calm among his followers as riots raged for the third straight day after a bomb attack outside a church killed 21 people. The pope, in an interview with Egypt's state-run television late yesterday, also called on the government of the Muslim- dominated country to address the grievances of Copts, the largest religious minority in the Middle East. Thousands of Copts have taken to the streets of Egypt in the aftermath of the Jan. 1 attack in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, demanding government protection and protesting what they describe as the state's negligence of their rights. "I plead with our sons to calm down," Pope Shenouda said. "There are many demands, but this is not the way to ask for them." Hundreds of Copts protested in Cairo yesterday, many clashing with riot police. Two officers and 12 policemen were injured, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported. Sectarian violence and discrimination have worsened in Egypt in recent years, according to the U.S. State Department's annual International Religious Freedom report. Christians in Egypt "face personal and collective discrimination, especially in government employment and their ability to build, renovate, and repair places of worship," the report said. Copts account for about 10 percent of Egypt's population of 80 million people. The government says it treats all citizens equally. President Hosni Mubarak blamed the church attack, which injured 96 people, on "foreign elements" and has urged Christians and Muslims to stand united. The Interior Ministry said it has increased security around churches nationwide "in light of the escalating threats from al-Qaeda to many countries," according to a statement on its website. Al-Qaeda's branch in Iraq said in November that it would attack Christian targets after it claimed that Egypt's Coptic Church was holding two Christian women who had converted to Islam. The church has denied this allegation.