Cairo Christians stage violent protest

Several thousand Christians took over the compound of the Coptic Orthodox cathedral in Egypt's capital yesterday, hurling stones at riot police in a protest over a woman who was allegedly forced to convert to Islam.

The stones injured at least 30 people, including 21 police officers.

Some policemen were seen wiping blood from their heads in the streets outside the compound in the city's Abbasiya district.

AP saw about 10 casualties inside the compound, including a priest, as police officers threw the rocks back over the compound wall.

A security official said the woman, Wafaa Constantine, 47, had become a Muslim of her own free will.