Egypt's finance minister quits over deaths of Coptic Christians

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Source: AP

Egypt's finance minister and deputy prime minister has resigned in protest over the government handling of weekend protests that left 26 dead, most of them Coptic Christians, an aide to the minister said.

Hazem el-Beblawi's resignation, which was announced on state television, is the first by a senior government official following the clashes on Sunday night in which a peaceful protest by Christians demonstrating over an earlier attack on a church in southern Egypt by Muslims turned into violent clashes.

El-Beblawi, in a letter to the prime minister, Essam Sharaf, said he was tendering his resignation over the "government's handling of Maspero", the aide told the Associated Press, referring to the state TV building by its popular name.

He told Sharaf that he "can't work like this", the aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/11/eqypt-finance-minister-quits-coptic