ALEXANDRIA, Oct 22: Egyptian Muslims and Coptic Christians traded barbs on Saturday over deadly riots sparked by a play deemed offensive to Islam, despite a public display of unity ahead of elections next month.
Friday’s clashes — which left three dead and around 60 wounded — were some of the worst communal violence Egypt has seen in years, underscoring the fragile religious balance of the Arab world’s most populous country.
Calm had returned to the streets of the second city of Alexandria on Saturday, but Muslims and Copts blamed each other for the rioting.
The Coptic candidate of the ruling National Democratic Party in Alexandria, Maher Khella, was in a fiery mood insisting that the play at issue did not convey an anti-Islamic message.
“The demonstrators burned copies of the Gospel yesterday. This is unacceptable and right now we cannot even accept excuses,” he said.
“I have presented a request to my party demanding my candidacy in the elections be withdrawn in an attempt to defuse the tension,” added Mr Khella, one of only two Copts on the ruling party’s list of 444 candidates for next month’s polls.
His rival from the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement urged the Coptic Orthodox Church to clarify its position on the play, whose recent DVD release sparked the wave of Muslim discontent.
“I’m not asking for an apology, but the Church must make a clear statement because the DVD was watched by many and it clearly harms the image of Islam,” Osama Gado said.
Some 5,000 angry Muslims gathered on Friday in front of the Saint Girgis church that produced the play after the expiry of an ultimatum demanding a formal apology from Coptic Pope Shenuda III.
Riot police fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets before arresting 53 protestors.
The interior ministry said in a statement it responded to ‘radical elements in the crowd’, but the opposition Ghad party candidate for next month’s election, Tamer Harfush, accused the security forces of provoking the protesters. —AFP
