And yet Obama couldn’t bring himself to condemn the wave of terror directed at Egypt’s Christians.

CAIRO (AFP) — Muslims and Christians clashed Thursday outside a Cairo church that was reopened after previous sectarian clashes forced its closure more than two years ago, security officials said.

The church, in Ain Shams district, was one of several the government pledged would be reopened after hundreds of Copts staged a 12-day sit-in to protest attacks on their community.

Security officials told AFP several hundred Muslims and Coptic Christians pelted each other with stones after hardline Islamists showed up at the church to object to its reopening.

Military police moved in and restored calm, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

Copts make up about 10 per cent of the country’s 80-million people and complain of state-sanctioned discrimination, such a law that requires them to obtain presidential permission before building a church.