CAIRO: A Muslim teenager was killed after a quarrel between Muslims and Christian Copts in a Nile Delta town, police officials said Wednesday.
Police said the trouble in Mansoura, some 110 km north of Cairo, began after a verbal exchange between the Muslim teenager and a Coptic street vendor.
A group of Coptic youth joined in the quarrel and the teenager, Mohammed Ramadan Eissa, was killed in the ensuing fight, the officials said on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The officials said a group of Muslim rioters later attacked Christian homes, setting two houses ablaze.
Police said some 25 rioters were arrested.
They said the ministry of interior, which oversees security, dispatched hundreds of armed soldiers from nearby cities to police the town.
Coptic Christians make up an estimated 10 percent of Egypt s 76.5 million people and generally live in peace with the Muslim majority although clashes and tensions do occur, mostly over land or church construction disputes. Copts are limited in where they can build churches and must obtain government approval before expanding existing facilities.
The government insists Christians enjoy the same rights as Muslims.
