20110521
Reuters
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian Christians ended a sit-in on Friday nearly two weeks after they camped out in downtown Cairo to protest against sectarian violence, state TV reported, following an official promise to meet some of their demands.

Witnesses said some protesters began dismantling a podium after one of their leaders, Orthodox priest Father Metyas Nasr, announced he had agreed to a government offer to free five young Christian men.

They had been detained on Thursday following clashes outside a church in the eastern Cairo suburb of Ain Shams.

Tensions between Christians, who account for about 10 percent of Egypt's 80 million people, and Muslims have increased since protests forced President Hosni Mubarak to step down.

State news agency MENA said authorities would organise a meeting between Christian and Muslim clergymen on Saturday to discuss the subject of two churches in Ain Shams long closed by the authorities. Nasr was not immediately available for comment.

State television later reported that all the protesters had cleared the area on the Nile in front of the TV headquarters.

The decision had split the protesters. Some immediately agreed to go home but others vowed to stay, saying they would leave only when authorities met their demands in full.

These included equality for Christians, reopening of all closed churches and trying suspects in previous attacks on churches. "They were not happy with the compromise," one protester told Reuters. "They say they want all of their rights achieved, not just to have some young men released from prison."

Analysts attribute the increased tensions to the growing influence of Islamist hardliners with little tolerance for Christians, and to lawlessness as security forces disgraced for human rights abuses under Mubarak are being rebuilt.

The protest began after 12 people were killed on May 8 in clashes with Salafists sparked by rumours that Christians were holding a woman who had converted to Islam.

The protesters had decided to end their sit-in on Thursday after authorities agreed to open three churches, including one in Ain Shams.

But they changed their plans after clashes erupted while trying to open the Ain Shams church, in which eight Christians were detained, protesters said.

Egypt's ruling military council, under pressure to end the tensions, has ordered new laws that criminalise sectarian violence and ease restrictions on building churches be drafted.

A cabinet statement said authorities would renovate churches damaged by violence and re-open a number of churches that were closed in the past by authorities without explanation.