ARMANT, Egypt — Police detained Christian families in Upper Egypt and forced them to deny arson attacks on their homes during a spate of anti-Christian violence Feb. 11–17, the families said. Two Coptic Orthodox families said police detained them for 36 hours when they attempted to report a Feb. 13 assault on their homes in Armant, 373 miles south of Cairo.
The fires came four days after Muslim groups set four Christian-owned shops on fire Feb. 9. International media reported that rumors of a love affair between a Christian man and Muslim woman sparked the violence, but local papers said hostilities began over accusations that Christians were blackmailing Muslim women to convert.
Authorities detained the Christians when they tried to report the arson attack on their homes. "Police asked them to sign statements that they had attempted to set their own homes on fire to claim that they were being attacked by Muslims and to demand police protection," one source told Compass Direct news service.
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