ALEXANDRIA: Egyptian police fired live ammunition into the air and lobbed tear gas into rioting crowds of Christians and Muslims Sunday in a third day of sectarian violence in Egypt s second-largest city. One Muslim reportedly died of wounds suffered a day earlier and dozens more were wounded and arrested.
Mustafa Meshaal, who was wounded during violent clashes between Muslims and the Christian Coptic minority in the port city on Saturday, died of his wounds in a hospital, medical sources told AFP
Witnesses said clashes erupted afresh on Sunday in front of Al-Quidissin church, one of the three attacked on Friday, following prayers marking the Orthodox Church s Palm Sunday.
Police fought back against Coptic Christians who were encircled by a security cordon around the Saints Church in downtown Alexandria after the mob began hurling stones and bottles from inside the police line and fellow demonstrators tossed Molotov cocktails from the balconies of nearby buildings.
Police could be seen repeatedly beating a boy of about 12, who was among the crowd of Coptic young people who fled into the church, slamming the doors behind them, or dashed down narrow streets surrounding the church. Most of the protesters were between ages 12 and 25.
Later a huge mob of what appeared to be Muslim protesters charged the police cordon from the other side. Mustafa Mohammed Mustafa, a Muslim Brotherhood parliamentarian, said a 24-year-old Muslim died early Sunday of wounds from a beating by Christians during rioting Saturday.
The Christian protesters behind the police cordon repeatedly surged against it from the front of the church and by late afternoon were hurling rocks and bottles at security troops as others tossed firebombs from surrounding apartment balconies.
Sirens blared as ambulances raced toward the scene. Armored police vehicles were surrounding the church as tear gas fumes sent protesters not inside the church fleeing down narrow streets in the neighborhood.
Earlier Sunday, police, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to talk to reporters, said 43 people had been wounded in clashes near the church and 50 others were arrested, as religious leaders and politicians sought to ease sectarian tensions in the aftermath of a series of weekend attacks on Coptic churches.
About 2,000 riot police had cordoned the front of the Saints Church, but were unable to prevent the late-afternoon melee by some 200 young men who had been milling around the church grounds after services ended.
They carried wooden crosses, clubs and machetes. At least 22 people were wounded in clashes in the Mediterranean city on Saturday and 15 people were arrested in the fighting that police said was instigated by fanatics.
Security forces also used tear gas to put down the Saturday violence, which erupted among several hundred Coptic Christians and Muslims at the end of the funeral procession for Nushi Atta Girgis, 78, who was slain Friday outside the Saints Church in the Sidi Bishr district.
Officials said more security forces had been sent to the city to maintain calm. MENA, quoting security sources, said demonstrators smashed the windscreens of a number of vehicles, burned two other vehicles and some shops, blaming that unrest on extremist elements.
The clashes followed knife attacks at three churches in Alexandria Friday that left up to 16 wounded. Although it was Good Friday for many of the world s Christians, the Copts and other Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Easter a week later.
Earlier Saturday, about 3,000 people gathered at Saints Church to mourn Girgis and church leaders blasted the government for its failure to protect Egypt s Christian minority.
The Interior Ministry statement did not distinguish between Muslims and Christians in blaming clashes on fanatics and said that those who participated had been duped.
But the Egyptian Coptic church blamed a terrorist plot for the attacks, which according to the interior ministry left at least five people injured and rejected the claim they were the work of one mentally unstable man. A statement issued by the churches of Alexandria and aired on Al-Arabiya television blamed a terrorist plot to target all churches ahead of Easter.
Police had earlier said that the clashes were sparked by Copts who had attacked and provoked Muslims. A Coptic doctor at the nearby St. Mark s hospital, who was not at the scene of the clashes, said he was told that Muslim passers-by were angered by the slogans protesters shouted.
There was sort of a clash, and some people were injured, Dr. Girgis Fawzi said. We received one young Christian with minor injuries. He was treated and left the hospital.
An official at Al-Meery Hospital said that the facility had received five people with minor injuries after the clashes.
Most of them were people stabbed by knives, the hospital official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to deal with the media.
A statement by church leaders in Alexandria denounced Friday s stabbings and blamed the government for not doing enough to protect the churches.
