Egypt's military rulers have ordered an investigation into clashes between the security forces and protesters in Cairo at the weekend in which 25 people, most of whom were Coptic Christians, were killed and more than 300 injured.
In a statement read on state television, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces asked the government to set up a fact finding committee.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces "tasked the government with quickly forming a fact finding committee to determine what happened," in a statement read on state television.
It called for "all measures against all those proven to have been involved, either directly or by incitement".
The SCAF, which took power when president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February, stressed it "continues to bear national responsibility to protect the people" until it hands over to an elected civilian authority.
Thousands of people attended a service at the Copt cathedral in Cairo last night for the funerals of 17 demonstrators.
Live television showed the coffins being brought in a procession from the Copt hospital where post mortems were carried out.
The coffins, each bearing the victim's name and flowers arranged in a cross, were lined up in the cathedral for the funeral service before being taken out for burial.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said US President Barack Obama was "deeply concerned" about the violence.
"Now is a time for restraint on all sides so that Egyptians can move forward together to forge a strong and united Egypt," Mr Carney said.
A "deeply saddened" UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the Egyptian military authorities to defend "all faiths" in the country.
The Congregation for Eastern Churches at the Vatican slammed the "senseless violence", with Cardinal Leonardo Sandri telling Vatican Radio he hoped it "would not lead as well to a climate of precariousness and difficulty" for Copts.
Egyptian military prosecutors began questioning 25 people accused of involvement in the clashes, state news agency MENA reported, after a security official said 40 were arrested overnight.
Copts had been protesting against an attack earlier this month on a church in the southern city of Aswan when the violence erupted.
