By AP
ASSIUT: About 500 young Coptic Christians have defied a call by their leaders to avoid demonstrations and descended into the main streets of this southern city protesting the New Year’s Day church bombing that killed 21.
The demonstrators gathered Tuesday evening in front of the ruling party’s headquarters in the city of Assuit, which has a large Christian population, shouting slogans and vowing to protect the cross with their “blood and souls.”
Many Christians blame the government for not protecting them.
No injuries have been reported even though the protesters threw rocks at riot police cordoning off the area.
The demonstration follows several protests that took place during the past three days in Egypt’s main cities of Cairo and Alexandria.
