Suleiman Condemns Egypt's Sectarian Violence, Calls for Moderation

President Michel Suleiman condemned on Tuesday the latest deadly sectarian violence in Egypt, including an attack on the main cathedral in Cairo, and called for coexistence.

In a statement issued by his press office, Suleiman condemned “all acts that harm the history of coexistence among societies in the Arab world and mainly Egypt.”

The president regretted the loss of lives in the recent clashes and called for moderation rather than extremism as called for by monotheistic religions.

Calm was on Monday restored outside St. Mark's Coptic cathedral in Cairo as police deployed in force in the central neighborhood of Abbassiya.

A day earlier, mourners had packed the cathedral for prayers to honor four Copts who had been killed in sectarian clashes in a town north of the Egyptian capital that also left one Muslim dead.

As the mourners left the cathedral, they came under attack from a crowd who pelted them with stones, sparking violence that killed two Christians.

In his statement, Suleiman also condemned “the terrorist bombing in Damascus on Monday that left at least 15 civilians dead.”

State media said 15 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in the car bomb blast between Sabaa Bahrat Square and Shahbander Street.

Suleiman reiterated his call for dialogue among Syria's different factions to find a political solution to the country's crisis away from violence and extremism.