Middle East Online CAIRO: A
senior Egyptian Coptic bishop said on Friday attacks on
Christians are on the rise and criticised the inclusion of only
one Copt in Islamist President Mohamed Morsi's government.
"The general climate is turning against
Christians," said Bishop Morcos. "Assaults on Christians have
increased. It's not just a matter of having one ministry," he
said.
On Wednesday,
Muslims attacked a church and Christian homes in a village
outside Cairo, leading to clashes that injured 16 people after a
Muslim man died of wounds from a fight with a Christian.
A day later, President Morsi, who had pledged to
include Coptic representatives in his government, swore in a new
cabinet with only one Christian, the scientific research
minister from the outgoing government.
"There is a difference between promises and
implementation," said Morcos. "Perhaps there were obstacles in
implementing the pledge, or the promise is one thing, and the
actual implementation is another."
Dozens of Copts have died in sectarian clashes
since a popular uprising overthrew president Hosni Mubarak early
last year.
The United
States warned on Monday that despite gestures by Egypt's interim
military leaders towards greater inclusiveness, sectarian
tensions and violence had increased.
Washington's 2011 International Religious Freedom
Report expressed concern over "both the Egyptian government's
failure to curb rising violence against Coptic Christians and
its involvement in violent attacks."
The Copts, who make up roughly 10 percent of
Egypt's 82-million-strong population, were also the target of
sectarian attacks before Mubarak's ouster.
Muslim-majority Egypt has for
decades been marked by deep sectarian tensions, with religious
violence between Muslims and Christians often sparked by
disputes over land or love affairs between members of the two
communities.
In January
2011, a suicide bomber killed more than 20 Christians outside a
church in the country's second city Alexandria, after Islamists
accused the Coptic Church of detaining a woman who converted to
Islam.
