Egypt Coptic Clashes Aftermath

In the West Bank city of Bethlehem, dozens of Palestinian Christians attended a mass on Thursday in memory of the 25 people killed in violent clashes between Christian protesters and the Egyptian military on October 9.

Father Antonion al-Urashlimi said that worshipers attended the service to express their smpathies with the victims.

On the same day, Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf offered his condolences to the head of St. Mark’s Coptic Cathedral, Pope Shenouda the third, in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

The violent clashes that took place in the Maspero district of Cairo last week were the most violent since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in February. Army vehicles rammed into a crowd protesting an earlier attack on a Coptic church. According to witnesses, protesters were crushed under the wheels.

Despite Egyptian generals defending the actions of the army and denying the use of live ammunition in the crackdown, Amnesty International reported that some of the bodies were found to have bullet wounds.

While the army was praised for exercising control during the transitional period in the earlier stages, frustration has been mounting due to the questionably harsh tactics implemented recently.

Sharaf offered his resignation following the attacks, but it was turned down by the military council.