GIZA - Chief Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud Thursday remanded in custody for 15 days 156 suspects, most of them Copts, for triggering violence in Giza that left one cop dead and more than 60 injured. "Around 156 suspects are held for further investigations over the violent incidents that took place in Giza's area of Omraniya on Wednesday," a statement from Mahmoud's office read. It added that one person died due to the incidents as three cars owned by the Give Governorate were destroyed, in addition to the injury of 65 including policemen. Clashes between riot police and hundreds of Christians, protesting after the authorities halted the construction of a church in Giza, took a sectarian turn on Wednesday when dozens of Muslims joined the violence. As the questioning of the suspects was going on inside the South Giza Court Complex, hundreds of relatives of detained suspects held a protest calling for their release. "I'm sad that some officials abuse their powers," Pope Shenouda III, the head of the Coptic Church in Egypt, said in his weekly sermon on Wednesday night without giving details. Some Christians, who make up around 10 per cent of Egypt's 80 million people, demonstrated near the church and others near the Giza Governor's office. The State-funded Al-Azhar mosque and university, Egypt's highest seat of Islamic learning and authority, expressed "deep regret" over the clashes. "Al Azhar calls on all Egyptians to stand by national unity, respect the rule of law and steer clear of anything that touches national security," it said, calling on the Government to wisely deal with the incidents. Naguib Sawiris, a key Egyptian Coptic businessman, said there were no need for building more churches in Egypt. "Half of Egyptian churches are empty. Building churches without permission is needless," he commented on the violent protest.
