Cairo: Egypt's ruling miltary council has imposed a nightly curfew in a restive Cairo area after clashes between Coptic Christian and army forces claimed at least 23 lives and wounded 174, state television reported on Sunday night.
Several hundred Christians pelted police with rocks outside a Cairo hospital Monday in fresh clashes.
Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf warned in a televised address that the riots were another setback on the country's already fraught transition to civilian rule after three decades of Mubarak's authoritarian government.
"These events have taken us back several steps," Sharaf said. He blamed foreign meddling for the troubles, claiming it was part of a "dirty conspiracy."
Curfew imposed
The curfew, the first since January 28, is to run from 2 am to 7 am (local time) in an area extending from the neighbourhood of Maespero near the Nile in central Cairo to the district of Abasiya in the east of the capital where the Ministry of Defence is located.
Sunday's clashes were the worst in Egypt since February when a popular revolt forced long-standing president Hosni Mubarak to step down.
Thousands of Coptic Christians had Sunday protested outside state and radio TV building in central Cairo where they clashed with army and security forces. State television said the demonstrators, who were protesting the destruction of a church in southern Egypt, fired on soldiers guarding the building and torched private and public cars.
Coptic activists denied the claims, saying anonymous people shot on them. In the aftermath of the clashes, angry demonstrators headed to the nearby Tahrir Square for a sit-in, but were dispersed by the military police.
The rioting was the worst since April when 14 people were killed in Muslim-Christian clashes in the populous district of Imbaba.
EU condemns Egypt violence
European Union foreign ministers have condemned the worst sectarian violence in Egypt since the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February.
EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said on Monday it was up to Egypt "to protect your people, whoever they are, wherever they come from or whatever belief or faith they have."
Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal says "so many people being killed in this mayhem is very worrisome indeed."
Christians make up around 10 per cent of Egypt's mostly Muslim 80 million. Tensions between Egypt's Muslims and Christians have occasionally flared up over disputed sites of worship and alleged discrimination.
With input from agencies
