Inter-religious clashes in Egypt leave 4 persons dead

CAIRO, May 8 (Itar-Tass) - A total of four people died and more than
twenty received injuries in the course of inter-religious clashes in Egypt
Saturday.
The conflict broke out in one of Cairo's districts between Moslems and
the Arabs belonging to the Coptic Christian community.
Several dozens of Moslems attacked the Coptic church of St Mina
claiming a woman who had made known her wish to convert to Islam was kept
by force there.
In the course of the onslaught, the attackers used handguns and other
weaponry in an attempt to prove that "the Christians don't allow the woman
"to change her creed".
The Copts, whose trend of Christianity stands close enough to the
Eastern Orthodox Church, make up between 6% and 10% of the country's
80-million-strong population, the vast majority of which espouses Islam.
Conflicts on religious grounds have been gaining frequency here of
late. Moslems often claim that the Copts willing to convert to Islam "are
hidden at Christian monasteries and churches".