RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
And Soraya, help us understand how this is all unfolding.
SORAYA SARHADDI NELSON: And so the tensions are rising, even though the incident is now a few days ago.
MONTAGNE: Give us a little background here. Christians in Egypt - it's an old community. Who are they exactly and where are they concentrated?
SARHADDI NELSON: And so they really are merged with the Muslims. They don't live separately. They're not a different ethnicity. They're just Egyptian Christians who never converted when Islam came to Egypt.
MONTAGNE: And Soraya, haven't Egyptian Christians long complained of discrimination?
SARHADDI NELSON: For example, that Christians are converting Muslims secretly and doing all sorts of things that sort of raise the ire or sensitivities on the Muslim sides, and the government doesn't seem to do anything to stop that.
MONTAGNE: And how is the government responding to this? I know Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, came out rather quickly with a statement about this.
SARHADDI NELSON: And this time, the Christians say, they won't put up with it.
MONTAGNE: Soraya, thanks very much.
SARHADDI NELSON: You're welcome, Renee.
MONTAGNE: That's NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson speaking to us from Cairo.