ANALYSIS: Sectarian strife casts shadow over Egypt transition

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) - Sectarian violence, once sporadic, has become a recurrent problem in Egypt and risks derailing the country‘s political transition.

   A gloomy mood has fallen over many Egyptians, who feel the country may be losing the harmonious social atmosphere that graced the country after the 18-day uprising that forced former president Hosny Mubarak out of office earlier this year.

   "These incidents affect the already shaky security situation in the country, which remains the main concern for the people. Thus, it leaves them with increasing doubts about the revolution and their ability to continue working for it," said Diaa Rashwan, a researcher and an expert on Islamist movements.

   The weekend attack on the Mar Mina church, in the poor and densely-populated Cairo neighbourhood of Imbaba, is the latest in a series of incidents that have left many members of the country‘s religious minorities wary and afraid for their future in the predominantly Muslim country.

   "The former government was corrupt, but at least we were living fine," a man was shouting in the street the morning after the attack that left 12 people dead, 240 injured and a church destroyed.

   Salafists, hard-line Islamists who have become more vocal after the revolution, have been blamed for Saturday‘s violence, as well as for other recent attacks targeting Christians. In one incident, Salafists cut off a Christian man‘s ear for allegedly being involved in a relationship with a Muslim woman.

   "This sectarian violence aims to draw people‘s attention away from the the more important principles of the revolution, such as economic and social justice, and to incite instability and a return to the old regime," writer and analyst Hani Shukrallah said.

   Shukrallah blames "external forces" for inciting strife in the country in order to "bury the revolution."

   "There are many signs that they are being funded from Saudi Arabia, which played an active role in the founding of religious extremism and Salafists," he told the German Press Agency dpa.

   Wahabism, a stricter form of observing Islam dominant in Saudi Arabia, is an orientation within Salafism.

   "The Arab Spring, with its calls for freedom and democracy, poses a threat to the Royal family in Saudi Arabia," he added.

   However, many believe that the attackers were merely thugs hired by powerful loyalists of the former regime seeking to regain power in the country.

   Shukrallah, a Copt Christian, thinks they made the wrong choice by standing behind religious extremists.

   "They are a limited minority and they won‘t have a significant power in the coming parliamentary elections," he said, rejecting fears by millions of Egyptians that conservatives will dominate the country‘s political scene after elections scheduled for September.

   Copts experienced a bloody beginning to the year when a bomb went off outside a church in Alexandria, in northern Egypt, leaving 23 people dead.

   In March, 13 people were killed in sectarian clashes around the Cairo neighbourhood of Manshiyet Nasser, shortly after a church was torched in the village of Sol, south of the capital.

   The church was quickly rebuilt by the army, which currently runs the country.

   However, this did not stop thousands of people from protesting in Cairo, accusing the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces of not doing enough to protect Christian houses of worship.

   The council has said that all 190 people held after last weekend's clashes will face military trial. The cabinet has vowed to "strike with an iron hand" those who threaten the country‘s national security.

   "The government and the council‘s approach to these incidents prove that the state is crippled and failed in this regard. They have to deal firmly with these criminals and apply the rule of law," said Shukrallah.

   The coming weeks will tell whether the army can succeed in restoring sectarian harmony and preserving the principles of the revolution. 

dpa
Published: May 9, 2011

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