Naguib Sawiris, the Egyptian telecoms magnate, has warned of further violence between Muslims and Christians in the country unless the perpetrators of recent sectarian attacks are punished.
Mr Sawiris, a Coptic Christian who belongs to one of the biggest business families in Egypt, told the Financial Times he was worried about deteriorating sectarian relations and a rise in the political influence of Islamist groups.
He is setting up a political party, the Free Egyptians, to mobilise the liberal and secular vote in September’s parliamentary elections – the first since the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak, former president.
Outbursts of sectarian strife, some blamed on newly assertive Salafi groups that follow a strict interpretation of Islam, have been increasing since the Mubarak regime fell in February.
“We are all very worried, Christians and Muslims, because we never saw these people [Salafis] before,” Mr Sawiris said.
“They seem to have emerged after 30 years of being oppressed and they have decided to unleash all their fury and their anger. They are clearly targeting the weaker [Christian] minority. Moderate Muslims are also being targeted, but in a secondary way.”
Clashes earlier this week between Muslims and Christians in the poor Cairo neighbourhood of Imbaba killed 12 people and injured more than 230. Hundreds of Salafis have been accused of inciting the violence.
The two sides exchanged gunfire and lobbed petrol bombs at each other in a night of skirmishes that culminated in the burning of a church in the area by an angry Muslim mob. More than 200 people have been arrested.
Salafi groups, who kept a low profile before the revolution, have become increasingly visible as different forces try to shape the Egyptian state. Their rhetoric is often intolerant towards Christians, whom they mistrust.
Mr Sawiris described as “a licence to destroy” the failure of the Egyptian authorities to bring charges against Salafis who demolished a church a few weeks ago in a village just outside Cairo.
The army has since rebuilt the church but the local Muslim population allowed the construction only after a deal mediated by senior Salafi sheikhs, brought in by the military authorities now ruling the country. The recourse to the sheikhs rather than to the law has infuriated Christians.
Violence against Christians under Mr Mubarak usually went unpunished, with the authorities organising informal reconciliation between attackers and victims.
Islamists from the Muslim Brotherhood group are expected to emerge as the largest bloc in the assembly after September’s elections. The Brotherhood condemns sectarian attacks against Christians and says it is committed to the protection of minority rights.
But it has also been trying to woo the ultra-conservative Salafi vote ahead of the election. Thousands of people attended a rally in Cairo this week addressed jointly by Brotherhood officials and Salafi sheikhs.
Mr Sawiris said it would take “a miracle” for new liberal parties such as his to do well against the Brotherhood. After the legal dissolution of Mr Mubarak’s party, the group is regarded as the best organised political force in the country and the only one sufficiently prepared to fight the September elections.
“It is an unfair fight,” he said. “They are already organised, and they already have their members, branches and candidates.”
The military council, which is running the country during the transition, has rejected calls from liberal groups to postpone elections until after a new constitution has been drafted by a constituent assembly.