« Segregation in Schools in the Netherlands |
| Yemen: Bride Abduction Carnage »
January 20, 2006
Egypt: Coptic Christian Dies After Muslims Burn Church
News from Compass Direct that a Coptic Christian has died and at least eleven people have been injured after a clash between Muslims and security police, in which a Christian building, being used as a church, was subjected to an arson attack.
The incident happened yesterday morning, in the town of el-Udaysaat, near Luxor. The Egyptian daily, Al-Akhbar, reported that Muslims, who heard Christian prayers from an Orthodox community building, threw torches inside at 4 am.
The community centre had been banned from holding religious services in 1971, when the congregation was told it had to apply for registration.
The building has recently been renovated, with plans to have it inaugurated officially as a prayer center. The all night prayer vigil was being held on the eve of Epiphany.
The injured included two security guards, one of whom suffered from severe smoke inhalation injuries,. The dead man was named as Kamaal Shaker.
The Coptic Pope, Shenouda III, intends to send seven bishops to Mr Shaker's funeral at al-Udaysaat tomorrow. The funeral will be held at the site of the attack.
10 people were arrested after the arson attack, one of whom is the owner of the building where the prayer service was held.
A 150 year old law, the Hamayouni Decree, from the time of the Ottomans, puts restrictions on the construction and repair of Christian houses of worship. The rule was instituted in 1856.
In December 2005, Hosni Mubarak announced that the law would be revised, so that the process of gaining authorisation would become easier. Formerly, construction or repair of churches needed his personal authorisation. After his revisions, Christians still have to apply to gain individual official permission to alter or build, but local governors are obligated to respond to applications within 30 days. Muslims, obviously, do not have a similar law hampering their religious building works.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at January 20, 2006 2:18 PM
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)