BERRYVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Coptic Christians outside Egypt are
alarmed at the rioting that has left dozens dead and hundreds
wounded in Cairo.

Halim Meawad (hah-LEEM' MEE'-wahd), a board member of Coptic
Solidarity, rejects suggestions by Egypt's prime minister that outside agitators are to blame.

Meawad says Egypt's current government is too weak to control
extremists who don't want any Christian presence in the Muslim-majority country, even though the Coptic church has been in Egypt centuries longer than Islam.

He says Copts in the U.S. and other countries only want their fellow Christians to live in peace with full human rights.

On its web site, Coptic Solidarity says it works to bring attention to "persecution which they continue to face from authorities and Islamist fanatics."

The U.S. expatriate community of Copts numbers about 300,000.
The largest concentrations include communities in New York and
northern New Jersey, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Houston
and Cleveland.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)