Christians look at the Saint Mary Church, which was set on fire during clashes between Muslims and Christians on Saturday in the heavily populated area of Imbaba in Cairo (Photo: Reuters)
Remnants of the toppled Mubarak regime had a hand in Saturday's fatal sectarian violence in the Giza neighbourhood of Imbaba. That is the conclusion of the fact-finding committee tasked by the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) with investigating the events.
The committee's report claims that the violence against Christians in Imbaba was part of counter-revolutionary attempts to discredit the January 25 Revolution.
The violence resulted in 12 deaths and at least 240 injuries as well as leaving two churches on fire.
According to the report, the masterminds of the attack wanted to convince people that the revolution, which resulted in the overthrow of former president Hosni Mubarak, has stirred up unrest across Egypt.
The committee stressed that the “widespread lack of security” and “runaway inmates” paved the way for such clashes to take place. Reference was made to the pervasiveness of unlicensed firearms.
It also cited extreme religious views as another factor in the violence, saying some extremists dismiss the rights of Christians. According to the report, such pernicious attitudes, along with the media's role in promoting them, played a part in the sectarian attacks..
The committee called for the arrest and trial of all suspects as soon as possible.
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