Egyptian Christians protest woman's disappearance

Cairo: Hundreds of angry Egyptian Christians have protested in a central church in Cairo against the mysterious disappearance of a Coptic woman in southern Egypt.

Joined by several priests, the demonstrators chanted slogans against police and asked President Hosni Mubarak to step in to help the return of the missing woman, the wife of a priest in the upper Egyptian city of Minya.

The protesters claim that the woman, identified as Camelia Shehata, had been abducted, with some protesters accusing police of involvement.

"We will remain on a sit-in here until the priest's wife returns," said Bishop Wesa Sobhi, as anti-riot police were deployed outside the church.

Denying that the woman has been abducted, a security source said police had been searching for her since her disappearance on Sunday.

Relations between Egypt's Christians and their Muslims compatriots have recently been marred by tensions due to conversions and disputes over places of worship.

Earlier this year, six Christians and a Muslim guard were killed in an attack blamed on a Muslim in the Upper Egyptian town of Nagaa Hamad.

Christians account for around 10 per cent of Egypt's 80 million population.