Christian protesters attacked in Egypt

(October 10, 2011) Thousands of Coptic Christian protesters chanting against Egypt's military rulers came under attack on Sunday by assailants firing pellets and throwing rocks, a security official and witnesses said. Several vehicles were set on fire during the clashes, sending heavy black smoke rising over a scenic street along the Nile. The Christians were protesting the latest attack on a church in southern Egypt. The rally began in the Shubra district of northern Cairo, then headed to the state television building overlooking the Nile where men in plainclothes attacked them. It was not immediately clear who the attackers were. Anti-riot police held the crowds back from the towering TV building. ``This is our country,'' protesters chanted. ``The people want to topple the field marshall,'' they yelled, referring to the head of the ruling military council, Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi. They accuse the council of leniency in dealing with a series of anti-Christian attacks. Egypt's Coptic Christian minority makes up about 10 percent of the country's population of more than 80 million people. As Egypt undergoes a chaotic power transition and security vacuum in the wake of this year's uprising, Christians are particularly worried about the increasing show of power by the ultraconservative Islamists. In the past weeks, riots have broken out at two churches in southern Egypt, prompted by Muslim crowds angry over church construction.