Canada condemns violence against Christians in Egypt
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Monday said Canada "strongly condemns" violence against Coptic Christians in Egypt, where weekend sectarian violence caused at least 12 deaths.
"We stand behind the Coptic Christian community and their right to practice their faith in safety and security, free of persecution," Harper said in a statement. "This is a universal human right and one which our government is committed to defending."
Clashes broke out between Christians and Muslims in northwest Cairo where 12 people were killed, scores injured and a church set ablaze. Six Muslims and four Christians were among the dead, while two bodies were still unidentified.
They clashed after Muslims attacked the Coptic church of Saint Mena in Imbaba to free a Christian woman they alleged was being held against her will because she wanted to convert to Islam.
Harper expressed his "deepest condolences" to families of those killed and noted the "difficult challenges ahead" for Egypt.
He reminded that his Conservatives, winners of the recent legislative elections, had pledged to create a "special Office of Religious Freedom."
Harper last month announced plans for the new office during a campaign stop at the Canadian Coptic Center in Mississauga, southern Ontario, in what political pundits said was an attempt to appeal to socially conservative voters.
Canadian Coptic organizations estimate that there are at least 50,000 Copts living in Canada.
Egypt's Coptic Christian community comprises 10 percent of the predominantly Sunni Muslim country's population of more than 80 million, and complains of systematic discrimination.
A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Coptic church in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria -- home base of the Coptic Orthodox Church -- after a New Year's Eve mass at the start of 2011, killing 23 people.
Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
(source:google.com)
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