Egypt army calls for unrest probe

10 October 2011 Last updated at 08:17 ET

Egypt’s ruling military council has called for a swift investigation into unrest in Cairo, after clashes mainly between Coptic Christians and security forces on Sunday.

The cabinet has held an emergency meeting ahead of the first funerals of 24 people who died in Sunday’s unrest.

Riots erupted on Sunday after a protest against an attack on a church in Aswan.

Reports of protesters in Cairo being crushed by military vehicles have further heightened tensions.

Sectarian strife has increased in recent months in Egypt.

The Copts – who make up about 10% of the population – accuse the governing military council of being too lenient on the perpetrators of a string of anti-Christian attacks.

The BBC’s Yolande Knell in Cairo says there is pressure on ministers and on the country’s military rulers to give assurances about national unity.

‘Plain clothed attackers’

The military called on the government to carry out a quick investigation into the clashes by “forming a fact-finding committee to determine what happened and take legal measures against all those proven to have been involved”.

In a statement read out on state TV, the army also said they would take all necessary measures to maintain security and repeated their commitment to plan for handing power to civilians.

Security has been stepped up at vital installations in Cairo, with additional troops deployed outside parliament and the cabinet building in anticipation of further unrest.

Police have been stationed outside the Coptic hospital, where most of the dead and injured were brought.

Funeral services were expected to be held in the afternoon at the city’s Coptic cathedral.

Thousands – mainly but not exclusively Christians – joined the initial march from the Shubra district of northern Cairo to the state TV building in Maspero Square on Sunday, calling on the military council to sack the governor of Aswan province.

They also accused state TV of fanning the flames of anti-Christian agitation.

But the demonstrators said they were assaulted by attackers in plain clothes before the clashes with the security forces broke out.

The violence began outside the state TV building but soon spread to Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the demonstrations which led to President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation February.

There were reports of thousands joining in the street violence, attacking both sides. Rioters tore up the pavement and hurled stones.

Correspondents say that many Muslims came out to defend Christians from the security forces and protest against the military’s continued hold on power.

Some called for the resignation of the military council, in particular its chairman, Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi.

Others responded to government calls to help the army quell the unrest for the sake of stability.

Some protesters reported hearing gunfire, and several said they had seen a military vehicle run over at least five people. There has been no comment from the government on the reports.

One eyewitness, a Christian named Sandra, watched the violence on Maspero Square from her home.

“Everything took place directly underneath our house,” she told the BBC.

“It all happened so fast. The army moved in with tanks and were literally running over people. could see bodies all over the place. People were running and screaming.”

Hossam Baghgat, head of the Egyptian Initiative for Human Rights and an eyewitness, described to local TV what he saw: “Some bodies had no heads, others had their heads completely flattened [and] can’t see the features, it’s so obvious they were run over.”

Eyewitnesses said security forces vehicles ran over protesters

The ministry of health said that at least 24 people had been killed and 212 had been wounded in the violence.

Of this number, at least 86 were security forces, ministry spokesman Hisham Shiha told the BBC.

Security vacuum

Later, Egypt’s Prime Minister Essam Sharaf appealed for calm and addressed calls by protesters for the removal of the military rulers.

“The most serious threat to the country’s security is tampering with national unity, and the stirring of discord between Muslim and Christian sons of Egypt,” he said in a televised address late on Sunday.

He added that such violence – the worst in Egypt since Mr Mubarak was ousted – was “tampering with the relationship between the people and the army”.

Our correspondent says sectarian tensions have simmered in the political and security vacuum that has developed in the past couple of months.

Christians have been worried by the increasing show of strength by ultra-conservative Islamists.

In May, 12 people died in attacks on Coptic churches. In March, 13 people were killed in clashes between Muslims and Copts in Tahrir Square.

This latest violence comes ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for 28 November, the first such vote since Mr Mubarak was ousted.

The Copts, the largest minority in Egypt, complain of discrimination, including a law requiring presidential permission for churches to be built. Egypt only recognises conversions from Christianity to Islam, not the other way.

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