The fighting broke out late Monday in the densely packed neighborhood of Shoubra, home to many of Cairo's Christians, when a crowd of hundreds of protesters suddenly swelled into the thousands and surged through the winding streets.
Eventually, the throng - chanting "Where were you when they attacked Alex?" and "Oh Mubarak, you villain, Coptic blood is not cheap," referring to President Hosni Mubarak - began battling with the police, who dropped their batons and shields to throw rocks and bottles back at the protesters.
It was the second time in two nights that the police in Cairo, outnumbered and overwhelmed by protesters, broke ranks and attacked the crowd. Even before the outbreak Monday night, at least 39 riot police officers, including four high-ranking officers, had been injured trying to contain the protests.
Egyptian authorities seemed uncertain at every level of how to contain the civil unrest unleashed by the bombing, outside Saints Church in Alexandria. They focused on the forensics, identifying 18 of the victims - 10 women and eight men - and were examining a decapitated head thought to be that of a suicide bomber. The authorities also said they had detained suspects they believed could lead them to those responsible for the bombing.
By nightfall, church officials announced that every church in the country - including Saints Church - would go ahead and hold a Coptic Christmas Mass on Thursday night, but that holiday celebrations would be canceled, according to an official Egyptian news service.
Outside of Shoubra, the nation remained tense, with fears that the conflict could lead to wider civil unrest between Muslims and Christians. Rumors spread throughout Cairo that Christians pelted Muslim religious leaders with rocks when they went to offer condolences to church officials. With tempers heating up, police forces tightened security.
But many Egyptians said that the state's oppressive security apparatus was the cause of much of the trouble. "The government is the reason this happened," said a demonstrator, Mamdouh Mikheil. "They are the terrorists who attack us everyday."
It was not all dire, however. There was a glimmer of hope, some observers said, that this attack, so lethal and abhorrent to so many Egyptians, would reinforce Egypt's deeply felt sense of nationhood, which has traditionally trumped identification by tribe or religion.
Protesters also carried signs with slogans like, "Egyptians are one people."
This article appeared on page A - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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