In the gritty Egyptian port city of Alexandria, thousands of Christians cast their votes Monday, anxious about what democracy will mean for their minority community. The city, seen as more conservative than the capital Cairo, is expected to vote in numbers for the moderate Islamist party set up by the Muslim Brotherhood in the first polls since the fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Posters for the hardline Salafist groups, who follow a more strict interpretation of Islam dominant in Saudi Arabia, were also highly visible around the mixed Muslim-Christian neighbourhood of Sidi Beshr. “During the Mubarak era, all the political parties were suppressed including the Islamic parties,” 35-year-old Sami, who works at the St George Coptic church in the area, told AFP. “But now they are free, people here are really worried about these Islamic parties making gains in the election. Not just Hizb al-Nur (the Salafists) but also the Muslim Brotherhood,” he added. While some worry about the Islamist parties’ attitude to women’s rights, others in the minority group of eight million Coptic Christians are concerned about Egypt becoming an Islamic state.
