Egyptian prime minister reopens church destroyed in clashes

Jun 7, 2011, 17:10 GMT

Cairo - Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf on Tuesday reopened a church in the Cairo neighborhood of Imbaba that was burnt in religious clashes last month.

Sharaf attended the opening of the Coptic church alongside the interior and local development ministers, as well as local officials.

The government, which began restoration on the Coptic church days after it was burnt, spent nearly two million dollars to rebuild it, according to the state-run Arabic Al-Ahram website.

During the clashes in early May, 15 were killed and 230 injured when ultraconservative Muslims and Coptic Christians clashed over the whereabouts of a woman who conservative Salafist Muslims believed was being held hostage inside the church after converting to Islam.

Members of the country's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, currently in control of Egypt, blamed the church fire on armed thugs with links to the regime of ousted president Hosny Mubarak.

Sharaf described the reopening of the church as an act of unity between Muslims and Christians, who make up 10 to 15 per cent of the country's population.

The prime minister said the state would respond strongly and firmly to any attempts aimed at sowing discord between Egyptians.