Egypt police investigate possible sectarian slaying of two Christians in sensitive village
CAIRO, Egypt: Egyptian police were investigating Friday the slaying of two Coptic Christians found dead in the same village where one of the country's worst sectarian massacres took place seven years before.
Sadeq Ishaq, 45, and Karam Andraus, 40, were found shot to death at their farm in the southern village of el-Kosheh, 240 miles (390 kilometers) south of the capital Cairo, a police official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
The official added that police were trying to determine if the murders had a sectarian motivation.
On New Year's Day 2000, a dispute between the Muslims and Copts in the mixed village escalated into a full scale battle with gangs of armed villagers shooting at each other, leaving 21 Christians and one Muslim dead.
Coptic Christians make up an estimated 10 percent of Egypt's 76.5 million people. They generally live in peace with the Muslim majority, though occasional clashes occur.
The Egyptian government is extremely sensitive to public discussions of treatment of its Coptic minority, insisting Christians enjoy the same rights as the Muslim majority.