Arrests after attacks on Christian property in Egypt

CAIRO (AFP) — Police arrested 20 people when hundreds of Egyptian Muslims attacked Coptic Christian property after a woman who converted to Islam went missing, a security official said on Saturday.

At least five people were also slightly hurt when police used tear gas to disperse protesters in the village of Al-Nazla, in the province of Fayyum 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Cairo on Friday, the official said.

The woman later returned home with her 10-month-old baby after a three-day visit to relatives in the capital, security officials said.

Muslim villagers went on the rampage after word that the woman had gone missing from her home and was said to have abducted by her Christian family.

"Al-Nazla residents threw stones at houses and shops owned by Copts ... because the villagers believed that the woman had been kidnapped by Christian members of her family," the ...