An Egyptian Coptic activist demanded on Monday the government's recognition of the Christians’ right to obtain official religious holidays as stipulated by the law.

The relatives of two Christians detained in Al-Khosous following an outbreak of sectarian violence have handed themselves over to police in fear of reprisal attacks, state news agency MENA has reported.

Two Muslim Brotherhood members in northern Egypt have been ordered to stand trial on charges of detaining and torturing students during a protest against the president the group propelled to power.

North Giza prosecutors on Sunday ordered the detention of Salafist activist Abdel-Rahman Ezz for four days pending investigation for his alleged involvement in last December's arson attack on the liberal Wafd Party's headquarters in Cairo's Dokki district.

Muslims and Christians in Al-Khosous have signed a petition to press for the release of local residents arrested after a recent bout of sectarian violence.

Fifteen suspects were arrested in Khosous Saturday in connection with the deadline sectarian clashes that rocked the town last week, according to the Interior Ministry.

While reflecting a deep societal malaise, sectarian violence in Egypt has always been associated with political power play, particularly between the ruling regimes and active Islamist groups.

The West Cairo Prosecution has ordered arrest of 10 people suspected of involvement in the violent clashes that broke out around St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral Sunday.

The Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm the Freedom and Justice Party are planning to meet with leaders from the Wasat Party, the Nour Party and the National Salvation Front to discuss a possible Cabinet reshuffle and the fate of Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah.

Four days have passed since the violence that disrupted the town of Al-Khosous, home for Copts and Muslims in Egypt's governorate of Qalyubia who say they have never seen sectarian strife.

The Coptic Orthodox Church has identified five demands for President Mohamed Morsy to resolve the sectarian crises that have erupted in various parts of the country.

Presidential spokesperson Ihab Fahmy on Wednesday said that Assistant President for Foreign Affairs Essam al-Haddad’s statements on Facebook about the Coptic Cathedral incident was an account of events and did not accuse Christians of anything.

On Monday, Khairat El-Shater, the strong man of the Muslim Brotherhood, issued a statement on his Facebook page to discredit what he qualified as “rumours and fabricated documents.”

Wasat Party leader Abul-Ela Madi has repeated his claim that the intelligence service had approximately 300,000 'thugs' on its payroll during the Mubarak era.

Student members of the Salafist Raya Party, founded by Egypt's disqualified presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abou-Ismail, issued a statement Wednesday accusing the president of Al-Mansoura University of hiring thugs to use against protests on campus.

CAIRO, April 11 (Reuters) - When Egyptian Christian Kerollos Maher watched on television as petrol bombs and rocks rained on Cairo's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral he had only one thought - emigration.

A 21-year-old man died in a Cairo hospital Thursday after sustaining severe burns over the weekend amid fatal sectarian clashes in the Delta town of Khosous.

Some Sufi Orders fear that upcoming parliamentary elections may be rigged to favor the Muslim Brotherhood, claimed Essam Mohie, Liberation Party secretary general.

Egypt’s presidential spokesman says tourist flights from Iran were not suspended because of pressure from “any particular groups.”