CAIRO: Thirty people were arrested on Wednesday after Muslims and Coptic Christians clashed over the building of a church tower in a village in southern Egypt, a security official said.
Three people were injured in the clashes which broke out late on Tuesday in Al-Badraman, in Minya province.
Muslim residents began hurling stones at Christian construction workers after hearing that the church was planning to increase the size of its tower and put in a bell, the official said.
Thirty people were arrested on the spot, the official told AFP.
The Copts, the Middle East s largest Christian community, make up between six and 10 percent of Egypt s 80 million people but complain of frequent discrimination and harassment. -AFP