CAIRO: The Egyptian Church is demanding compensation for the Coptic residents of a village in Qena whose houses and shops were looted and burned in sectarian clashes last month, sources told Daily News Egypt. Sources inside the church told Daily News Egypt that "negotiations are underway between the church and government officials to reach a deal to compensate the village's Copts whose houses and shops were destroyed. Last November, a Christian man was held by police for allegedly raping a 12-year-old Muslim girl in Farshout, Qena, triggering a burning and looting spree of Christian homes and Christian-owned shops by Muslim villagers in retaliation. The sources, who preferred to remain anonymous, claimed that government officials agreed to offer compensation to the church on the condition that they close the case and quell the media hype. Meanwhile, Ramsis El-Naggar, the church's lawyer, said he will file a lawsuit against the Ministry of Interior should the church fail to reach a resolution with the government officials. "We have prepared documents detailing the attacks on Farshout's residents that we will present to court should the current negotiations [with government officials] fail, El-Naggar told Daily News Egypt. "We will lawfully demand compensation from the interior ministry because security officials failed to do their job in protecting the residents of Farshout as Egyptian citizens with rights rather than Coptic citizens, he added.
