Cairo: The Supreme Council of the Egyptian armed forces said on Sunday that 190 people will be tried militarily after clashes between Muslims and Christian near a church in Cairo that left 12 dead and 238 others injured.
Supreme Council on its homepage on Facebook (social networking on the Internet) said that it decided to “refer all 190 people in the events of yesterday to the Supreme Military Court.”
The source said the clashes began after dozens of Muslims tried to storm the church of Saint Mina in the neighborhood of Imbaba after allegations about the transfer of a Christian woman convert to Islam to the church, rumors fast spread all over the area, the detention story of the woman in the church left the angry mob of Muslims with no choice but invade the church to set free the woman, these developments prompted the Christians the necessity of stopping the angry men from entering the Church. Exchange of live bullets was heard from both sides before arrival of armed forces.
In its reaction Muslim brotherhood the only organized group (party) on the political ground denounced the incident, and called for quick restoration of security and avoid falling in civil war between the Muslims and Christians, upon calling the authority to bring the guilty before the law, the group emphasized that there is no different between Muslim and Christian in rights and that both belong to motherland Egypt, “non is above the law” the Muslim brotherhood concluded.
The U.S. Embassy in Cairo Condemned the incident that took place in Imbaba, in a statement released today. The statement emphasized that “The United States strongly condemns the unjustified sectarian violence that has caused destruction in the area of Imbaba and other neighborhoods in Cairo “, also called for calm.
The Embassy stressed U.S. support for the Egyptians who reject religious violence, and affected by a spirit of unity that followed the revolution of January 25.
The statement also welcomed the efforts which he described as “great” efforts of the Council of the armed forces to meet the religious violence, and called for a thorough investigation and transparent about these events, and conviction of Outlaws
On the other hand said the news agency MENA on Sunday that Prime Minister Essam Sharaf has decided to postpone a Gulf tour that was scheduled to begin on Sunday and called an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers after the killing and wounding dozens in overnight clashes between Muslims and Christians in Cairo.
The security sources said on Sunday that at least 12 people were killed and 238 others wounded in clashes overnight between Muslims and Christians near the church in the neighborhood of Imbaba in the Egyptian capital, and that other church were set on fire.
Media advisor of the Prime Minister Ahmad Al-Samman was quoted as saying “PM Dr. Essam Sharaf decided to postpone his Gulf tour which was scheduled to start Sunday for both Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, to follow up the domestic situation and events of Imbaba.”
“The Prime Minister called an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers on Sunday morning to discuss the implications of the tragic events in Imbaba.”
After the meeting, the Minister of Justice held a press conference in which he said that his country will apply stringent measures to tackle sectarian violence, said Minister Mohammed Abdel-Aziz that the Council decided to activate the body for anti-terrorism law, which reaches the maximum punishment to death penalty.
he Minister of Justice Abdel-Aziz, said in a statement broadcast on Egyptian television that the Egyptian government “will strike with an iron hand on each of tampering with the security of the homeland. ”
He added that the government has decided the application, “the firm with the laws that prevent exposure of the place of worship and freedom of religion” to protect the country from the danger of sectarian strife.
He also announced that the government “will apply the material to combat terrorism in the Egyptian Penal Code,” “anti-bullying law,” a material that contains harsh penalties of up to death.
The Minister of Justice Abdel-Aziz said, “This government is not weak ” and would “firmly” no threat to the security and intimidation of citizens
He said the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, who runs the affairs of the country that 190 were arrested in clashes between Muslims and Christians in the neighborhood of Imbaba in Great Cairo.
Meanwhile the hundreds of angry Christians announced their open strike in front of national TV in protest to the incident that resulted in bloody clash left 4 of them dead.
This is second incident of its kind within three moths after revolution in Egypt; political analysts and local community bodies pointed fingers to the toppled regime of being behind the incidents to ensure that people are not united and regret the toppling of the old regime whose 75% of its members are imprisoned waiting to face the law, the former home affairs minister in toppled regime of Mubarak has been sentenced 12 years imprisonment with hard labour.
