Further clashes follow Cairo’s bloody Sunday

At least 24 people were killed when Christians, angered by a recent church attack, clashed on Sunday night with Muslims and security forces outside the state television building in central Cairo.

Yesterday’s clashes took place outside a Cairo hospital where bodies of Christian victims were kept.

The latest violence comes hours before funeral services for the victims were to be held at the city’s Coptic Christian cathedral.

Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf warned in a televised address that the riots were another setback to the country’s already fraught transition to civilian rule after three decades of overthrown leader Hosni Mubarak’s authoritarian government.

“These events have taken us back several steps,” Mr Sharaf said. He blamed foreign meddling for the troubles, claiming it was part of a “dirty conspiracy”.

Similar explanations for the troubles in Egypt are often heard from the military rulers who took power from Mubarak.

“Instead of moving forward to build a modern state on democratic principles, we are back to seeking stability and searching for hidden hands -–domestic and foreign – that meddle with the country’s security and safety,” he said.