CAIRO — Egypt's Coptic Church harshly criticized the government on Monday over its actions in crushing a bloody protest in Cairo the night before that left at least 24 people dead, mostly Christians, as grieving families began to bury their dead, some of them mangled by tanks, bullets and beating wounds.
The protest on Sunday was the most violent in Egypt since the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak from the presidency eight months ago and raised new questions about the country's ability to move forward toward a pluralistic and tolerant democracy.
In a statement, the Coptic Church, which represents about 10 percent of Egypt's 85 million people, accused military and police forces of allowing anti-Christian instigators to turn what had been a peaceful protest into a sectarian riot, then used the violence as a pretext for deadly force directed largely against the Coptic protesters.
"Strangers got in the middle of our sons and committed mistakes to be blamed on our sons," the statement said. It said provocations against Egypt's Christian community reflected "problems that occur repeatedly and go unpunished."
In a further sign of mistrust, the families of 17 Copts who were killed said they would refuse to allow the government to conduct autopsies, fearing it would lie about the results in order to protect the killers. The families said medical examiners in their own community would conduct the autopsies instead.
Foreign leaders also expressed concern. The White House extended its condolences to the families of the victims and said: "Now is a time for restraint on all sides so that Egyptians can move forward together to forge a strong and united Egypt. As the Egyptian people shape their future, the United States continues to believe that the rights of minorities — including Copts — must be respected, and that all people have the universal rights of peaceful protest and religious freedom."
The violence on Sunday began after a demonstration by Copts angry about a recent attack on a church. By day's end it had morphed into a raging riot directed against the military council that has ruled Egypt since Mr. Mubarak was ousted in February. The violence seemed to be aggravated by the public's widespread distrust of the military's authority because of repeated delays in turning power over to Egyptian civilians.
When the clashes broke out, some Muslims ran into the streets to help defend the Copts against the police, while others said they had come out to help the army quell the protests in the name of stability.
Thousands filled the streets of downtown Cairo, many armed with rocks, clubs or machetes. Witnesses said several protesters were crushed under military vehicles and the Health Ministry said that about 20 underwent surgery for bullet wounds.
The protest took place against a backdrop of escalating tensions between Copts and the Muslim majority. Copts had joined the pro-democracy protests against Mr. Mubarak in large numbers, hoping for the protections of a pluralistic, democratic state, but a surge in the Islamists' power has raised fears of how much tolerance majority rule will allow.
But the most common refrain of the protests on Sunday was, “The people want to bring down the field marshal,” adapting the signature chant of the revolution to call for the resignation of the military’s top officer, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who is functioning as Egypt's acting president.
The military and riot police, on the other hand, appeared at some points to be working in tandem with Muslims who were lashing out at the Copts. As security forces cleared the streets around 10 p.m., police officers in riot gear marched back and forth through the streets of downtown alongside a swarm of hundreds of men armed with clubs and stones chanting, “The people want to bring down the Christians,” and, later, “Islamic, Islamic.”
Heba Afify contributed reporting from Cairo, and Rick Gladstone from New York.
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