The New Egypt: Chaos And Muslim Persecution Of Christians

Today old regime has finally fallen. We are on the right track.
Mohamed ElBaradei, in response to the resignation of Mubarak-appointed Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, March 3

That is ElBaradei on twitter.
ElBaradei followed that tweet with this one :

Lets all get down to work and start rebuilding our country. We want the world to know that Egypt is open for business [emphasis added]

In reality, according to this report--also from March 3--the actual situation in Egypt gives reason to be somewhat less sanguine:

Since Mubarak's ouster, Egypt has been gripped by a crime wave not seen in years, with a marked rise in armed robberies, arson and street battles between rival criminal gangs over territory. Demoralized and hated by many for their perceived brutality against protesters, security forces have yet to fully take back the streets. They numbered around 500,000 on the eve of the protests.

The military police, meanwhile, has stepped in to fill the vacuum, but its personnel don't have the intelligence capabilities or manpower to police the country efficiently.

Beside security, one of the main tasks facing Sharaf is to revive an economy hit hard by the protests. The stock market has been closed for more than a month and foreign tourists have only begun to trickle back in small numbers. Investor confidence also has been badly hurt by the dozens of criminal investigations into corruption allegations against senior officials from the former regime.

Against this background there have been a number of attacks on Coptic Christians.

On February 23, two monasteries in Egypt were attacked:

Compass Direct, an American-based Christian news agency, reported that one monk and six church workers were shot and wounded when the Egyptian Army attacked the Coptic Orthodox Anba Bishoy Monastery in Wadi Al-Natroun, 110 kilometers north of Cairo, in order to destroy a wall monks had built to defend their property from raiders. On the same day, it reported that, in a similar incident, the army also attacked the Anba Makarious Al Sakandarie Monastery in Al Fayoum, 130 kilometers southwest of Cairo. Under an Egyptian law carried over from Ottoman times, state permission is required to build or repair church property and such permits are rarely issued.

...There are growing concerns that Egypt’s 10 million or so Coptic Christians are being targeted under the cloak of political chaos during these uncertain times.

This past Friday, a family feud erupted in Egypt that led to deaths and the the burning of a church:

Two men were killed during clashes in Egypt between Muslims and Christians, which also saw Muslims set fire to a church in the village of Sol, south of Cairo, a security official said on Saturday.

"Two people were killed, and the Shahedain church set on fire in clashes between two families," the official told the MENA news agency.

The violence was triggered by a feud between the families, which disapproved of a romantic relationship between a Christian man and a Muslim woman in the province of Helwan.

It culminated in fighting on Friday in which both of the couples' fathers were killed, the official said.

After the funeral for the woman's father, a group of Muslims headed to the village church and set it on fire.

In addition, a group of Muslims attacked at church in Al Ayat:

Islamists in the town of Al Ayat (about 50km south of Cairo) are attacking another Coptic Church.

The parish priest Father Hosea was trapped inside with three deacons. They have managed to escape with the help of Noble Copts and armed muslims keeping the mob at bay.

The Islamist Mob have entered the church and commenced destroying it. Sacred Icons and relics have been thrown on the streets, trampled and destroyed.

The church has been set on fire.

The neighbouring Copts are under siege and locked up in their homes. There is no Police or security.

I've read about rumors that more attacks on Copts are forthcoming.
It remains to be seen if those attacks happen--and if such attacks are going to be a regular feature of the new Egyptian ElBaradei has been talking about.

Technorati Tag: Egyupt and Copts.