Egypt's Coptic pope in fear of attacks General al-Sisi announces overthrow of President Morsi on July 3, with Pope Tawadros front, second from right Pope Tawadros II, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt, has suspended his weekly public meetings with his flock after a sharp rise in attacks against Christians following the ousting last month of the Islamist Mohamed Morsi as president. A statement by Bishop Angaelos of the United Kingdom, confirmed by Christian sources in Egypt, said the pope had stopped his weekly sermons "out of concern over potential attacks on congregations." In addition to the increased frequency of violence against Christians, the bishop noted the rise in "unlawful incitement emerging from various fringe Islamist leaders spurring on more violent acts and illegal behaviour that continues to injure and claim the lives of many Egyptian Christians." Earlier this week 16 human rights groups said in a joint statement that they were concerned about incitement against Christians by some in Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group. They also decried the state's failure to provide adequate protection to Christians and their churches. About 10 per cent of Egypt's 85m-strong population is believed to be Christian. The organisations said it condemned "the rhetoric employed by leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and their allies that includes clear incitement to violence and religious hatred in order to achieve political gains, regardless of the grave repercussions of such rhetoric for peace in Egypt." Many Islamists believe that Christians were behind the toppling of Mr Morsi because they joined in large numbers the mass protests that preceded the army's move to end his rule. Tawadros also appeared on the dais alongside politicians and Muslim religious leaders when Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the defence minister, announced the end of Mr Morsi's rule on July 3. Christians now fear they could pay a heavy price for any attempt by the state to disperse two large protest camps in Cairo by supporters of Mr Morsi. The government has signalled its determination to clear the sit-ins, but the use of force is likely to result in many deaths among the Islamist protesters who include large numbers of women and children. Diplomats and human rights groups have warned that any such bloodshed would increase radicalisation and spur attacks against soft targets such as the Christian community and tourists. In the tense atmosphere since the ousting of Mr Morsi, sectarian killings have already claimed the lives of at least seven Christians around the country. This week in the southern province of Minya, in the poor and deeply conservative south of the country, an argument between a Muslim and a Christian in the village of Bani Ahmed escalated into a confrontation in which a mob of thousands of Muslims ransacked Christian homes and shops. At least 18 people were injured. Participants in marches sometimes grouping thousands of supporters of Mr Morsi in southern towns have chanted anti-Christian slogans, and graffiti on walls threatens Christians and denigrates their religious leaders. Christians fear a return to the violence of the 1990s when a low-level Islamist insurgency raged in southern Egypt and they were the target of attacks by the Gamaa Islamiya, or Islamic group. The organisation, now a legal political party, has renounced violence, but more recently its rhetoric has become more bellicose.