CAIRO — Muslims students stoned Coptic Christian chu
rches and homes in a southern Egyptian village on Saturday after four Muslims suspected of killing a Copt were kept in custody, police said.
The unrest began when the prosecutor extended the detention of the Muslims in the village of Dairut who are suspected of killing an elderly Copt in his home last week, a police official said.
Stone-throwing Muslim students and Copts clashed before police deployed in the town, the official added.
The men in custody had allegedly sought to attack the Coptic man's son, who was dating a Muslim girl and was rumoured to have passed out a CD with explicit pictures of her. Instead they found only the father at home.
Copts account for six to 10 percent of Egypt's 80-million population. They complain of discrimination and have been the targets of sectarian killings and violence.
