Cairo, Egypt, Mar 8, 2011 / 14:08 pm
After a Coptic Christian church was set on fire on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt’s new prime minister, Essam Sharaf, took the unprecedented step of meeting with local Christians protesting the attack.
The meeting – which comes at a time of intense political turmoil in the country – is reportedly the first time an Egyptian prime minister has acknowledged and met with demonstrators.
On March 4, witnesses say a Coptic church in the town of Soul, on the outskirts of Cairo, was set on fire by a mob after a skirmish between a Christian man and a Muslim woman. The mob allegedly prevented the local fire brigade from entering the village. The priest of the small parish, and three deacons have been reported missing.
“Some of the Muslim mobs in the area took the land … and put a sign that it’s now a mosque,” Michael Meunier, President of the U.S. Copts Association, told Vatican Radio on March 8.