Christians Under Attack

Cairo - Police in Egypt arrested 28 people in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria after Muslim and Christian youths clashed in a row over a girl, police said on Saturday.

Fighting broke out late on Friday after Ahmed Abdel Hamid, a 22-year-old Muslim, claimed he saw a Muslim girl headed for a residential building with Sami Rustum, 22, a Christian in the Al-Asafra district, the policeman said, on condition of anonymity.

Abdel Hamid demanded to know where Rustum was taking the girl and a verbal exchange took place before both called on their friends to support them.

The fight, in which at least 20 Christians and 20 Muslims threw stones and hurled bottles at each other, left six lightly injured.