The army and the government are scrambling to retain calm after the burning of a church and subsequent deadly protests, Nader Habib reports Thirteen people were killed and 140 injured on Tuesday in the wake of a church blaze blamed on Muslims. Garbage collectors who are mainly Christian, closed Salah Salem Street and the entrance to Muqattam in protest against Saturday's church attack in the village of Sol. Extremist Islamists, known as Salafiyeen, clashed with the garbagemen with molotov cocktails and stones being thrown by both sides before the army intervened. By Wednesday, the road was calm but tensions are frayed. Thousands of Christians, joined by many Muslims, have been staging a sit-in since 5 March protesting against the attack on the St Mina and St George church in the village of Sol. The demonstrators complained about what they said was the inaction of the Egyptian Armed Forces in preventing Muslims from torching the church, most of which was burnt to the ground, and terrorising Christian Copts, forcing them to evacuate the village. The church had been used by Muslims to pray inside to humiliate the Copts, according to the protesters. In front of the Egyptian TV building on the Nile Corniche in Cairo, thousands of demonstrators gathered holding crosses and shouting "With our blood and our souls, we save the Cross; Military and people are one hand; Christian, Muslim... one hand." The demonstration was joined by 15 priests, including priests from the church. The chants were loud: "We will go on strike until our demands are met" and "Hold your head high. You are Coptic". Father Balamon said that the church incident was triggered by a relationship between Ashraf Iskander, a 40-year-old married Christian and a married Muslim woman. The relationship, Balamon said, apparently caused a heated argument between members of the Muslim girl's family, which resulted in two deaths. Reconciliation was attempted the next day, Thursday, between the head of Christian families and the village's sheikhs. "They had common demands, agreeing that both families go out and leave the village," Balamon said. On Tuesday, in a meeting between Ahmed El-Tayeb, grand sheikh of Al-Azhar and Bishop Theodosios, El-Tayeb requested Muslims in Sol to rebuild the church in the same place, and that the burning of the church "tarnishes the image of Islam and attacks such as these are alien to Islamic teachings." Theodosios said Defence Minister Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi had ordered that the church be rebuilt and that a park worth LE2 million on the site would also be constructed. The Christians in Sol, according to Balamon, number 6,000 but the damaged and looted houses were countless, while there was a mass evacuation of terrorised Copts. Balamon said there was hardly a female left in the village after Muslims threatened to rape Coptic women. Only males were left behind, inside their homes. Priest Balamon said that because the army did not intervene when the mob demolished the church, Muslims were emboldened on Saturday, 5 March, and attacked Christian homes, looting everything inside. Father Yosha Abdel-Massih, the priest inside the church at the time of the fire, escaped unharmed, along with three deacons, from the roof of the burning church, leaping to the roof of an adjacent house owned by Muslims, who he said protected him from attacks by mobs. Bishop Theodosios learnt that the Armed Forces told some Copts, "Let them demolish the church, and we will rebuild it again." The army's stand surprised some but Emad Gad, a political analyst at Al-Ahram's Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, said that the army does not want to harm, shoot or beat, any Egyptian. "The Armed Forces decided since the first moment to handle the matter with the utmost wisdom with the people," Gad noted on TV. A delegation of Copts met on Sunday night with new Prime Minister Essam Sharaf at his home. Sharaf said he would contact Tantawi on Monday morning to ensure that pledges regarding the rebuilding of the church would be carried out. Sharaf joined the Coptic protesters on Monday evening after he was sworn in as prime minister. On the TV talk show Egypt Today Helwan Governor Qadri Abu Hussein caused controversy when he said the church was not affiliated to his governorate religiously, but affiliated to the Giza Patriarch. He promised to take action so that the village's residents can return to their homes. On the same show, Hassan Rweini, a member of the Higher Council of the Armed Forces, said that he had met in Sol with the biggest families of the village, the mayor, and the manager of Helwan security. Rweini said all participants agreed the necessity of guaranteeing the safety of all the village's residents, Muslims or Christians. The village residents, priests and a bishop appealed to the Armed Forces to intervene. In an interview with Freecopts, Bishop Theodosios, Bishop of Giza, said "We contacted the commanders of the army in charge of the region of Helwan and Borombol, and the leaders of the national security. They subsequently sent the army. When the army arrived at the village of Sol, it fired in the air and a Muslim mob dispersed. However, about 30 minutes later, the mob reassembled and began to burn the church in the presence of the army. The army sent a fire truck that extinguished the blaze. "Meanwhile, Muslims prevented firemen from reaching the church when they attempted to extinguish the fire. Thus, the Muslims were allowed to destroy the church in the presence of the Egyptian army." The army vowed to rebuild the church before Easter holidays, but the protesters' demands extended to bringing the arsonists, identified by a video recording, to justice. The video shows the torching of the church and the sounds of the imam's call of Allah Akbar from the mosque speakers. An eyewitness who refused to be identified said an individual who appeared on the video was a state security agent. Father Philopatir said, "It is essential to rebuild the church where it stood because it was consecrated and thus became holy land." Copts are still reeling from the bomb attack on the Two Saints Church in Alexandria on New Year's Eve which killed over 20 Copts. The revolution of 25 January brought Muslims and Christians together, with Coptic youth stepping forward to provide protection for Muslim compatriots as they conducted their communal prayers in Tahrir Square.
