MINYA, Egypt - Egyptian police were deployed in force Tuesday in a southern village after a Christian-Muslim row in a barber's shop degenerated into the shooting of two people.
The row started at a Coptic Christian barber's in the village of Mansheyat Deebes, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Minya, when a Muslim and a Coptic customer Sunday fought over who was next in line for a shave.
The argument was sorted out but the next day a dispute broke out between the families of the two customers and the Copt's 67-year-old grandfather wounded two people with a pistol.
Local police arrested the man and confiscated the gun, but hundreds of police reinforcements have since been sent in to prevent the outbreak of inter-confessional strife.
Armed clashes between the Coptic and Muslim communities are a frequent occurrence in the region.
In 1997, nearby Abu Qurqas was the scene of the massacre of 11 Copts in a church that was perpetrated by an outlawed Islamic militant group, Jamaa Islamiya, which at the time was targeting police and Christians.
Copts account for around five million of Egypt's 66 million population, according to official figures. However, the Coptic Church says its flock numbers around 10 million.
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