Egypt's media slammed what it said were "anti-revolutionaries" trying to trigger sectarian violence, which Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei labelled "religious extremism of the Middle Ages."
"We are facing the anti-revolutionary groups who are convinced that any success of the revolution was an even greater threat to their interests and so are trying to fuel confessional conflict," wrote flagship state daily Al-Ahram under the heading: "Before the nation burns."
Fierce clashes broke out between Christians and Muslims Saturday in Cairo's northwestern working-class neighbourhood of Imbaba in which 12 people were killed, scores injured and a church set ablaze.
Among the dead were six Muslims and four Christians while two bodies were still unidentified.
The two groups clashed after Muslims attacked the Coptic Saint Mena church in Imbaba in a bid to free a Christian woman they alleged was being held against her will because she wanted to convert to Islam.
Since the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak, Egypt has been gripped by insecurity and sectarian unrest, amid -- by the government's admission -- a "counter-revolution" by remnants of the old regime aimed at sowing chaos.
Egypt's grand mufti Ali Gomaa, quoted by the main independent daily Al-Masri al-Yom, warned of the potential for civil war, "because of outlaws who want to defy the authority of the state."
The daily ran a headline reading, "Extremism is burning the revolution", while independent newspaper Al-Shuruq said, "The fire of Imbaba is burning the heart of Egypt."
The Interior Minister Mansur al-Issawi, meanwhile, denied rumours that weapons had been stored in the Coptic Saint Mena church.
"Contrary to rumours that there were weapons inside the church, it was the owner of a cafe near the church who fired a gun," he was quoted as saying in government daily Al-Akhbar.
The Salafis, a puritanical Islamist sect accused of being behind the Imbaba clashes, denied they had any role in the violence.
Prominent Salafi cleric in Cairo, Abdel Moneim al-Shahat, said the Imbaba clash "does not reflect the Salafist thought which prohibits the incitement of confessional conflict."
Saturday's sectarian violence was also strongly denounced by ElBaradei, one of the prominent figures in the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak.
In a comment on Twitter, he called for swift action against such "religious extremism and practices of the Middle Ages."
Egypt's government warned on Sunday it will use an "iron hand" to ensure national security after Saturday's clashes.
Authorities would "strike with an iron hand all those who seek to tamper with the nation's security," Justice Minister Abdel Aziz al-Gindi told reporters after the cabinet held crisis talks concerning the violence.
Gindi said the government would "immediately and firmly implement the laws that criminalise attacks against places of worship and freedom of belief" using anti-terror laws to combat those "threatening national security."
Egypt's military rulers said 190 people detained in connection with the clashes would face military trial.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in power since the popular uprising toppled Mubarak in February, said the move was a "deterrent" to all those who sought to sow strife in the country.
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