DUSHANBE, October 10, 2011, Asia-Plus -- Coptic Christians clashed with military police, leaving at least 24 people dead in Cairo, and the cabinet called an emergency meeting for Monday, vowing the violence would not derail Egypt''s first election since Hosni Mubarak was toppled.

Reuters reports Christians protesting about an attack on a church set cars on fire, burned army vehicles and hurled rocks at military police who they said used heavy-handed tactics against them. It was some of the worst violence since the February uprising.

The violence casts a shadow over the imminent parliamentary election.  Voting starts on November 28 with candidates due to begin registering during the week starting Wednesday.

The clashes also added to growing frustration among activists with the army who many Egyptians suspect wants to keep hold of the reins of power from behind the scenes even as it hands over day-to-day government. The army denies this.

On Sunday, thousands - mainly but not exclusively Christians - joined the initial march from the Shubra district of northern Cairo to the state TV building in Maspero Square.  They were calling on the military council to sack the governor of Aswan province. They also accused state TV of fanning the flames of anti-Christian agitation.   But the demonstrators said they were assaulted by attackers in plain clothes before the clashes with the security forces broke out.

The violence began outside the state TV building but soon spread to Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the demonstrations which led to President Mubarak''s resignation.  Thousands joined in the street violence, tearing up the pavement and hurling stones.

Al-Jazeera reported today that the Copts say they were marching peacefully when thugs attacked them, drawing in the military police who used what activists described as unnecessary force.

The demonstrators, who were protesting the destruction of a church in southern Egypt, torched two armored vehicles, six private cars and a public bus, security sources said.  Scores of suspected assailants were arrested in the aftermath.

During the protest, led by several Coptic bishops, demonstrators burnt photos of Mustafa al-Sayed, the governor of Aswan province where the church was destroyed.

Al-Jazeera reports one of protesters Essam Khalili said, “The protest was peaceful.  We wanted to hold a sit-in, as usual.”  “Thugs attacked us and a military vehicle jumped over a sidewalk and ran over at least 10 people. I saw them."

Wael Roufail, another protester, corroborated the account.  "I saw the vehicle running over the protesters. Then they opened fired at us," he said.

Khalili said protesters set fire to army vehicles when they saw them hitting the protesters.

According to Al-Jazeera, television footage of the riots showed some of the Coptic protesters attacking a soldier, while a priest tried to protect him.

The Health Ministry said the death toll had reached 24 with 213 injured, the official MENA news agency reported.  It did not identify the dead but state television had earlier reported three soldiers were killed.

The Egyptian prime minister has appealed for calm.  According to the BBC, PM Essam Sharaf said discord between Muslims and Christians in Egypt was “a threat to the country''s security.”  He added that such violence - the worst in Egypt since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February - was also "tampering with the relationship between the people and the army".  His comments came after an emergency cabinet meeting, the BBC reports, noting that a nighttime curfew was lifted at 07:00 local time.

The Copts, the largest minority in Egypt (they make up 10 percent of Egypt’s roughly 80 million people), complain of discrimination, including a law requiring presidential permission for churches to be built.  Egypt only recognizes conversions from Christianity to Islam, not the other way.

International media outlets report sectarian tensions have increased in recent months in Egypt.  The Copts took to the streets after blaming Muslim radicals for partially demolishing a church in Aswan province last week. They also demanded the sacking of the province''s governor for failing to protect the building.

But Muslim and Christian activists said the violence Sunday was not due to sectarian differences but was directed at the army''s handling of the protest.