2011-04-26 11:06

CAIRO - The railway service from Cairo to southern Egypt will resume soon as protestors in Qena province decided to end their sit-in on railway tracks after a suspension of the new controversial governor.

Egypt's Prime Minister Essam Sharaf suspended the work of Emad Mikhail, the newly-appointed governor of Qena, whose appointment has caused protests that disrupted local rail and road traffic, said the official MENA news agency on Monday.

Sharaf decided to freeze the activities of recently-appointed Emad Mikhail for three months, added MENA.

Protestors, who started their sit-in about 10 days ago, have accused Mikhail, a Coptic Christian, of working as a deputy police chief of Giza governorate and killing protestors during the January 25-to-February 11 anti-government protests, which forced former President Hosni Mubarak to end his 30-year-long rule.

More than 20 new governors were sworn in on April 16 to replace those who served under the former president.

Copts account for about 10 percent of Egypt's total population of around 80 million. The minority has for long complained of discrimination.

In recent years, Qena has been one of Egypt's provinces with a relatively high rate of sectarian tensions. In November 2010, Muslims set fire to five houses and a shop of Coptic Christians over rumors of a love affair between a Christian man and a Muslim girl, although there were no casualties.