CAIRO - Hundreds of Coptic Christians gathered outside the state television and radio building in Cairo on Sunday to protest against the burning of a church following religious clashes south of the capital. Protesters, some carrying wooden crosses and Egyptian flags, demanded that the armed forces intervene to protect Coptic communities and churches. The demonstration comes two days after a church was torched following clashes between Muslims and Christians in the town of Sol, 90 kilometres south of Cairo. Protesters demanded that those responsible for the incident be brought to justice. Clashes in Sol were triggered when residents discovered that a Christian man from the town was having a relationship with a Muslim woman from a Cairo suburb, security sources said. The fathers of the two families were killed by gunfire during the clashes on Friday. After the men's funerals later that day, members of the Muslim community set fire to the Coptic Martyrs' Church in Sol. Bishop Theodyssius of Giza said those burned the church were 'thugs and outlaws' attempting to cause divisions and sedition, and called on the armed forces to intervene in Sol.
