Putting out the fire

Sectarian clashes between Muslims and Copts in an Upper Egyptian village are "under control", according to the police. Amira Howeidy could only get as far as neighbouring Maghagha to check the facts
Bani Wallnems has been cordoned off since Sunday (photo: Yousri Aql)
Sunset in the town of Maghagha, north of the Minya governorate in Upper Egypt. Accross the lush green fields, farmers depart for home, some with their cattle and sheep and others laden under huge bunches of clover. The call for the maghreb (sunset) prayer soars from village to village. It is very quiet, too much so perhaps. It is difficult to imagine that only a day before this scene of pastoral innocence turned ugly. On Sunday, 11 February, clashes between the Muslim and Coptic inhabitants of Bani Wallnems village, 30km from Maghagha, broke out leaving 11 injured, including two policemen. Part of the newly-constructed Al-Azra (The Virgin Mary) church and five houses belonging to Copts were torched, three cars destroyed and an entire village left in shock. Fifty people have been arrested in connection with the events.
Heavy security forces have cordoned off Bani Wallnems since the clashes erupted preventing anyone from entering or exiting the village. Even the press -- rather, specifically the press, as an angry officer stationed at the entrance to the village made clear -- were denied entrance. "Go back," he shouted firmly at the Al-Ahram Weekly team. More than a dozen armed members of the Central Security Forces and assorted policemen blocked the entrance with the help of an armoured vehicle. "No one is going in. These are orders," they said.
A statement, issued by the Interior Ministry a few hours after the clashes affirmed that the situation was "under control" and that the security apparatus succeeded in containing the violence which, according to the statement, was nothing more than a "minor incident."
However, some of the inhabitants of Maghagha and the villages near Bani Wallnems reluctantly recounted scenarios of what they heard or think happened.
Amm Hegazi, a local taxi driver, put it this way. "More than 30 or 40 Central Security Force vehicles were speeding up and down town in a state of frenzy yesterday. I heard that the whole thing began when the exaggerated ringing of the Church bells drowned out the call for the fagr [dawn] prayers coming from an adjacent mosque. This provoked the Muslims. One thing led to another and the clashes happened."
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a local residing in the Nazlet El-Asr village, half a kilometre from Bani Wallnems, told the Weekly that, "the church was always there but recent extensions have made it as high as 15 metres. The adjacent mosque has similarly been extended upwards. On Sunday, instead of ringing the church bell briefly, Louka -- a school secretary whose uncle is a priest -- went on and on ringing. When some Muslims objected, he took his gun and shot at them." Since then, he said, "those armed men in green [anti riot squads] have occupied the village and enforced a curfew. It's been extremely tense."
Following the clashes, all the injured were transported to the Maghagha Central Hospital and released on the following day, Monday. Hospital officials speaking to the Weekly said that the injuries were "slight." Security officials, however, were not commenting.
The Maghagha prosecutor said that those arrested -- of whom 19 are juveniles -- will be held in custody pending the investigation. Forensic experts, said the prosecutors, are collecting evidence at the scene. The Coptic Orthodox Church had yet to issue a statement as Al-Ahram Weekly went to print. Sources close to the Church told the Weekly that it sent a fact-finding mission to Bani Wellnems but, when approached by the Weekly, the Bishop of Maghagha declined to comment.
According to the Minya Governor, Major-General Hassan Hemeida, efforts are underway to hold "reconciliation talks" between Muslim and Coptic figures in Maghagha and Al- Minya.
Inside the Bishopric of Maghagha, a crowd of young Coptic men were gathered at the entrance, whispering amongst themselves. "Tell them what really happened, Hanna," a young man urged his friend. Hanna complied but would only say, "We've always lived in peace with Muslims. This whole thing has been blown out of proportion. We live peacefully," he told the Weekly as shouts from the dozens who surrounded Hanna silenced him. "No one but the Bishop will say the truth," they echoed.
But the Bishop is "upset" and will not speak to the press. The village remains isolated. The whole thing could be a minor incident as the Interior Ministry's statement said. But who can verify this? "Denying the press access to the village is a mistake" the governor told the Weekly.
The police's heightened sensitivity may have been a result of the bloody incident of sectarian strife that occurred over two years ago. On New Year's Eve of 2000, violent clashes erupted when a trade dispute went out of control in the mainly Coptic village of Al-Kosheh in southern Egypt. Twenty Copts and a Muslim were killed. A court in the Sohag governorate acquitted most of the defendants and issued light sentences on the rest. This triggered Coptic anger. The verdict was contested and a retrial was recently accepted.
Muslim-Coptic relations have soured over the past two decades, particularly in Upper Egypt. Observers attribute this to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and to the fact that the south of the country remains underdeveloped and lacks basic services, such as electricity and fresh water, in many of its provinces. Critics argue that the official approach to the problem has focused on the security dimension -- such as tracking down Islamic militants -- at the expense of development.
Will the disturbances and the social criticism implicit in them find a listening ear? "Nothing will damage Muslim- Coptic relations, in one week; everything will return to normal", the governor of Minya was quoted as saying. Bishop Aghathon of Maghagha on the other hand asserted that "our Muslim brothers stood by our side during the clashes."
For Amm Hegazi, the important thing now is "to get those security people out of the village. We want everything back to normal so that we can watch TV and follow up on what happened to Bin-Laden, the man who shook America," he said with a wink.
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