Christians Under Attack

The mid-February clashes were sparked following a series of rumours, the most serious and controversial being one about a "love relationship" between an engaged 17-year-old Muslim girl and Ramy, a Christian boy in his early 20s.

Issues of "honour" and "shame" are sensitive in Egypt, especially in parts of the country where societies are small and chiefly characterized by strong family ties and deep-seated customs.

Still, Armant - unlike other surrounding towns and cities - had no recorded history of violence between Christians and Muslims even though it once had harboured Muslim extremists in the 1980s, according to independent observers.

So when a vehicle and at least three stores, run by Christians, were torched near dawn by a group of eight Muslim youths, many locals expressed their shock - including the families of the attackers who said they had "strong ties with their Christian brothers in Armant."

The incident was "short-lived," said Mohammad Fathy, member of parliament who represents the constituency to which Armant, some 620 kilometres south of Cairo, belongs.

"A week later after the incident, life returned to normal," insisted Fathy. "Everyone, merchants and good people, stood together and compensated those affected by the clashes."

A few days after the clashes, the MP and members of the local council organized a "reconciliation meeting" where Christian and Muslim religious figures sought to calm the people and to "confirm ties of unity and intimacy" between the two religious groups.

"There is no fear now," said Makram Gerges Mansour, member of the local council and a Christian himself. "If you go down on the streets, you will find that life has not changed."

Some other Christians, however, are not so confident. Amonious Narouz Bekheit, a Christian in his 30s, is one of them, who can't forget how two weeks ago he woke up to the sound of pounding on his doors and neighbours shouting that his small photo shop was on fire.

Bekheit was questioned by the local authorities, and during interrogation, he was surprised to hear that his store was targeted by a group of eight teenagers - and not just because of the "love rumour" but also because of another one in which he was accused of circulating indecent pictures of Muslim girls, clients of his studio.

After the youths were arrested, according to the MP Fathy, one of them had told police about this rumour, claiming that Bekheit used to take pictures of Muslim women, electronically manipulate them, and then post them on the internet.

"My father and mother are from this town. How could I ever do something like this and expect to get away with it?" said Bekheit who does not even own a computer. "Now my reputation is ruined. And my business."

Abdel-Qader Hamza, father of 16-year-old Ammar - one of the Muslim youths involved in the attacks - said he was "stunned" by the violence. His wife had had a nervous breakdown and the four sisters were devastated.

"If my son has really done this, then I will be extremely angry with him," he said. "But I'm still sure that if my son did this, he did it spontaneously. There is no thought, planning or ideology behind this. It was an impulsive act."

Other rumours may also have fuelled the tensions, according to a man named Hassan who declined to disclose his last name for fear of being harassed by security police.

Hassan said that a few years ago, a rumour arose about "a Muslim boy who converted to Christianity and was later found dead. People say he was killed, others say he committed suicide."

Ramy Shaker Zaki and Samy Rezkallah, two young Christians who spend most of their afternoons in the MariGerges (St. George) church in Armant and who have Muslim friends, say the tensions are real.

Rezkallah and Zaki both said that they feel that "Muslims think they want to covert them to Christianity and they avoid them when they start talking about their religion."

After the mid-February incidents, the two boys admitted they had withdrawn from their Muslim friends. "We started to be afraid for ourselves, and for the Christian girls. We were afraid of dissension," said Zaki.

Zaki claimed that one of his Christian friends even overheard talk among Muslims who had wanted to attack a Christian mass.

After days of heavy police security measures which all but brought life to a standstill in Armant, the Church is urging Christians not to retaliate against the attacks.

"We were afraid," said Mohareb Nabih, an assistant priest at the Church of MariGerges. "I was afraid of the reaction of the impulsive young people - from both sides."

Even two weeks after the incident, the reluctance of many of the locals to talk about the incident shows that the fear is still there.

By Pakinam Amer, Dpa

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