Sectarian violence erupted Thursday evening in the village of Baheeg in Manqabad, Assiut, in Upper Egypt, following a rumour that a teenage boy had uploaded offensive pictures of the Prophet Mohamed on his Facebook page.
Sectarian
violence erupted Thursday evening in the
of
uploaded offensive pictures of the Prophet Mohamed on his Facebook page.
The
pupils of the village preparatory school attempted to attack and hold a
Christian pupil, Gamal Massoud, who was the owner of the allegedly offensive
Facebook account. The police set the boy free and a conciliatory session was
organised by some village members to keep matters under control. Meanwhile,
however, some Muslims took matters into their own hands and set fire to five
houses belonging to Coptic villagers, and shot at a few Copts before the police
and the military intervened and controlled the situation.
The
fires resulted in the total destruction of two houses and in partial damage to
the other three.
On
Friday, following the Muslim Friday prayers, violence again erupted against
Copts, this time simultaneously in Baheeg and in the neighbouring village of
al-Qutb. The police and military attempted to contain the situation but the
Muslim villagers went on with their rampage against Copts and their homes and
property. Finally, upon the intervention of the village elders and sheikhs and their
promise to the villagers that the lad who caused all this trouble and his
family would be banished from the village, peace reigned.
The
Friday damages amounted two houses burnt.
