
The violence in Cairo on Tuesday night was the worst outbreak of sectarian strife since President Hosni Mubarak was swept from power on Feb. 11 by a mass uprising characterized by solidarity between Christians and Muslims.
- It was not immediately clear how many of the dead were Christian or Muslim. The violence erupted following a protest by Christians over an arson attack on a church in Helwan south of Cairo.
- The strife represents another challenge to the military rulers to whom Mubarak handed power, and who made restoring law and order a top priority.
- Petrol bombs and rocks were thrown, witnesses said. At least one of the dead was a Christian who had been struck in the back by a bullet, but it was unclear who fired it. The army fired into the air at one point to disperse protesters.
- Christians protesting over the attack on the church had blocked a main highway south of Cairo and violence started after Muslims, who wanted to pass through, clashed with the protesters, a security source said. Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population of 80 million.

While tensions between Muslims and the Christian minority in Egypt have a history of running high, they came to a head this past New Year's Eve after a bombing near a church in Alexandria.
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