Hundreds of mourners today protested at the funeral of an Egyptian woman who was murdered inside a German court in a crime that has incensed public opinion and media in the Arab world's most populous country.
Egyptian newspapers have given broad coverage to the death of Marwa El-Sherbiny (31), describing the veiled woman as a "martyr" and suggesting the killer was motivated by a hatred of Islam.
Mourners chanted "Down with Germany" and scuffled with police after prayers in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria for Sherbiny, murdered on Wednesday in a Dresden courtroom by an unidentified German of Russian origin, witnesses said.
Ms Sherbiny, mother to a three-year-old and three months pregnant, was stabbed 18 times by the man she was testifying against during an appeal hearing, German prosecutors said.
Her killer also stabbed her husband, who German police then mistook for the attacker and shot in the leg, prosecutors added. The husband is in critical condition after waking from a coma.
Her killer was appealing against a conviction for insulting Sherbiny by calling her an "Islamist," "terrorist" and a "slut" when she asked him to make space for her son to go on the swings on a playground in Dresden, prosecutors said.
Her body was flown to Cairo on Sunday, and met by her family and the German ambassador on arrival. Her funeral was attended by members of parliament, a minister, a representative of Egypt's Coptic Christians and others.
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc, Egypt's most powerful opposition group, have called for MPs to discuss the killing, the group's website said.
Trade unions have also condemned the murder.
Reuters