By Essam Fadl
CAIRO: Four policemen and 38 security force officers were injured on Sunday amid clashes with Coptic protesters during a demonstration inside the Coptic Orthodox St. Mark Cathedral in Abbasiya.
Thousands of disgruntled Copts threw stones and water bottles at security forces when the police tried to forcibly disperse the crowds, yet police managed to end the protest on Monday at dawn.
The protesters called for both the sacking of Minister of Interior Habib El-Adly and the arrest of whoever was responsible for the bombing that took place inside Al-Qeddesine Church (The Church of the Two Saints) in Alexandria on New Year’s Eve.
They also called for reforms in laws that greatly affect the Coptic community, such as formulating a unified law for building places of worship and taking measures that would allow more Copts to hold public positions.
Protesters also held the Egyptian police responsible for not protecting churches, calling for an official state of mourning to be declared.
The injured policemen — First Lieutenants Mohammed Hatem Shalaby, Karim El-Gohary, and Mahmoud Ahmed Fouad, as well as Brigadier General Ahmed Al-Hosseiny — were sent to Al-Demerdash Hospital. Medics said that their injuries varied between bruises, cuts, abrasions and scratches.
Some of the 38 injured security force officers are still under medical observation, though most received a medical exam and left the hospital after receiving the results.
Protesters tried to physically attack government officials who visited the Cathedral to offer their condolences, and damaged the car belonging to Minister of State for Economic Development Osman Mohamed Osman. The violence prompted the ministers present within the cathedral headquarters to leave through the complex’s back exit.
Earlier, dozens of protesters tried to surround the Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Egypt’s top Muslim cleric, and banged on his car after he went to see the pope.
Ministers who visited the cathedral included Education Minister Ahmed Zaki Badr, Higher Education Minister Hani Helal, Administrative Development Minister Ahmed Darwish, Transportation Minister Alaa El-Deen Fahmy, Family and Population Minister of State Moshira Khattab, and Housing Minister Ahmed El-Maghrabi. Also present was Head of the Arab League Amr Moussa.
Spokesperson of the Copts for Egypt Movement Hany Al-Egezy told Daily News Egypt that declaring an official state of mourning will confirm what President Hosni Mubarak said in his speech following the Al-Qeddesine Church attack in which he stated that terrorism does not differentiate between the citizens of one nation.
“Declaring an official state of mourning shows that Egypt is sorry for its people, who are the victims of vicious terrorism, by setting the flags at half-mast in solidarity with the sorrows of the nation,” El-Egezy stated.
Protests have swept the country following the bombing. Hundreds of Copts in Alexandria, Cairo and Assiut took to the streets to denounce the attack and protest against discrimination. –Additional reporting by agencies.
