From Asharq al-Awsat: Egyptian Coptic priest blasts military handling of protests

Coptic priest Fr. Philopater Gameel of Giza’s Church of the Virgin Mary, who called on Coptic youth and the [Coptic] Maspero Youth Union, to take to the streets and march in Caro on Sunday – as part of what he termed a “noble day of rage” – stressed that he did not expect this Coptic protest to turn into a bloody confrontation with the Egyptian army which resulted in the death of 25 people and the wounding of some 300 others.

Coptic priest Fr. Philopater Gameel told Asharq Al-Awsat that “when I called for this demonstration, I believed that we had intellectuals and officials that possessed sufficient political awareness to deal with the anger of the youth with a sense of restraint and experience.” He stressed that “the Maspero Youth Union did not intend a bloody confrontation; this was supposed to be a peaceful march that should have lasted no longer than a couple of hours in order for the [Coptic] youth to express their objection to the manner in which the Coptic community is being treated.”

For more on this, please see: http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=26899