Release International

Four Copts were killed and at least 50 were hurt when members of a church in Talbiya, Giza, clashed with security officials trying to stop their building work.

The violence began at 3am on November 24 when nearly 5,000 security officers surrounded a site where a community centre is being built on the property of St Mary's Church.

This was the security forces' third attempt to stop construction in less than a fortnight and 200 Copts, including women and children, were keeping a vigil inside the church.

When officers successfully entered the site, both they and members of the church reportedly resorted to violence – but security forces came armed with tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition. Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) reports that members of the public joined security forces in pelting Copts with stones.

Religious rights group Middle East Concern reports that four church members were killed and at least 50 injured, many of them seriously. About 170 Copts have since been charged with offences ranging from attempted murder to not carrying ID papers, according to AINA.

Thirty lawyers reportedly staged a sit-in outside the courts in Giza to protest at not being allowed access to the Copts in detention.

Leaders of St Mary's Church insist that they do have the required permission for their building work – but the authorities deny this. Religious rights campaigners have seized on this incident to accuse the Egyptian authorities of double standards when it comes to permission for building mosques and churches.

Talking to Reuters news agency, Hossam Bahgat of the Egyptian Institute for Personal Rights said that 'excessive force' had been used on people simply asserting their constitutional right to freedom of worship. 'We have been warning about the Government's failure to deal with the rising sense of injustice [felt] by the Christian community for a long time,' he said. 'This is an extremely disturbing development.'

(Sources: AINA, Middle East Concern, Reuters)

• Please pray God's comfort and healing over all those bereaved and injured in this incident.
• Pray that this incident will prompt the Egyptian authorities to reflect and make a more conscious effort to accord equal religious rights to all citizens.

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