The violence that left a church wrecked by fire and more than 238 people wounded at the weekend was triggered by rumors that Christians had abducted a woman who converted to Islam.
The clashes pose a challenge for Egypt’s new military rulers, under pressure to impose security and revive the ailing economy while seeking to avoid the tough security tactics against hard-liners used by Hosni Mubarak.
A tight security cordon restricted access around Saint Mina church in Imbaba, the Cairo district where the clashes erupted on Saturday evening and extended into Sunday. Another church, Saint Mary’s, was burned.
The army has said that 190 people arrested after the clashes would be tried in military courts over the violence.
Security sources said 15 other people were detained on Monday, including the alleged Muslim husband of the woman at the center of the violence, as well as a Christian coffee shop owner. Both were blamed for starting the violence.
In the northern city of Alexandria, dozens of Muslims and Christians gathered to condemn the Cairo violence.
“It is the same play and Copts are the victims,” they chanted.
“Oh Tantawi, where are you? They burned down my church in front of you!” they said in reference to Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who heads the ruling army council.
Members of Egypt’s Christian minority and even some Muslims believe remnants of the Mubarak regime are to blame.
Four army and security vehicles were outside the Cairo cathedral where Nabeeh spoke.
Political analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah, of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said Islamists and remnants of the old regime were behind the violence.
“Salafists ... are trying to win ground after the revolution and they think that violence will get them power,” he said. “And of course, they are doing so with the help of remnants of the old regime.”
Ali Abdel-Rahman, the governor of Cairo’s Giza region that includes Imbaba, pledged to rebuild Saint Mary’s, the state news agency reported.
