Church Construction Leads to Clashes in Egypt
A dispute over the building of a church in a predominantly Muslim town led to clashes between youths in southern Egypt and the death of one Muslim youth, police said Thursday.
A dispute over the building of a church in a predominantly Muslim town led to clashes between youths in southern Egypt and the death of one Muslim youth, police said Thursday.
The UK-based Middle East Online news agency reported that the violence began after young Muslims in a town in Minya province, 156 miles south of Cairo, suspected that Christian villagers wanted to demolish a home in the area and build a church in its place.
According to the agency, the Muslims claimed the Christians were backtracking on a pledge last year not to proceed with the project and to continue using a church nearly a mile-and-a-half away. They argued that the Christians did not need a church in the town, as there were only 500 of them compared to 20,000 Muslims.
As reported in the 2004 International Religious Freedom Report, Interior Ministry regulations issued in 1934, under the Al-Ezabi decree, specify a set of 10 conditions that the Government must consider prior to issuance of a presidential decree permitting construction of a church. These conditions involve factors such as the location of the proposed site, the religious composition of the surrounding community, and the proximity of other churches and mosques.
In addition, the contemporary interpretation of an 1856 Ottoman decree still in force requires non-Muslims to obtain a presidential decree to build a place of worship in Egypt.
"Christians complained that they had to go through layers of bureaucracy in order to obtain a permit to build a church, and that by the time they got one, demographic and other conditions would have changed," Middle East Online wrote.
Police said they made several arrests after the two sides attacked the other with rocks and sticks. Gunfire was also heard.
