One dead, tens injured in clashes with security over church construction in Giza
Egyptian police throw back stones at Christian demonstrators during deadly clashes over the refusal of permission for a new Coptic church, in Cairo on Nov. 24, 2010. (AFP Photo/Khaled Desouki)
By Essam Fadl /Special to Daily News Egypt November 24, 2010, 3:49 pm
CAIRO: A Coptic citizen died on Wednesday and tens were wounded in clashes with security forces after Al-Omraneya's district office halted the construction of a church annex.
Clashes erupted early Wednesday between security and Copts protesting in front of the Mar Girguis Church after Al-Omraneya's district administration’s decision not to allow the Copts to turn a community center being built next to the Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael church into a chapel.
The authorities said the Copts had violated their building license.
“They had previously been ordered to cease construction due to violations of building safety code standards, and because they were attempting to illegally transform the building into a church for the conduct of religious services,” the Ministry of Information’s press center said in a statement.
The situation has been escalating for three days, the statement said.
Witnesses said police arrested construction workers.
Several hundred people clashed sporadically with police Wednesday morning in separate locations in the Talebiya district of Cairo's Giza governorate, with demonstrators throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.
