Friday, May 17, 2013

One Dead, Many Hurt in Egypt Sectarian Fights; Quarrel of Christian and Muslim Sparks Clashes

One person died and dozens were wounded during clashes between Muslims and Christians tonight (May 17, 2013) outside a Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria -- Egypt's second largest city -- in the latest violent sectarian row in the Muslim-majority country, according to the Yahoo News website.

A quarrel between two young men -- one Christian and one Muslim -- morphed into a family feud that sparked clashes in a western district of Alexandria.

The two sides threw firebombs at each other before security forces intervened and cordoned off the area around the church.

Police arrested eight people after about two hours of fighting, a security source said. Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's 84 million population and have complained that the authorities have failed to protect them since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown as president in February 2011 -- especially since the election of radical Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in June.

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