Cairo - Pope Shenouda III avoided comment Thursday on land dispute clashes between Muslims and Christians last Saturday near the Abu Fana monastery in the Upper Egyptian province Minya.

The Coptic Church head, who returned Wednesday from the US, had been expected to comment during a sermon - but this was delivered before he met Coptic clerics he assigned to follow up the clashes.

A Muslim man was killed and seven Coptic Christians, including five monks, were injured in the clashes when the monastery began building a wall around a neighbouring property after receiving final approval earlier this year.

Residents claimed agricultural land on which the wall was being built was theirs, and that the wall would damage their crops.

Minya province governor Ahmed Diaa al-Din told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa that a committee assigned to solve the crisis would meet next Saturday with all parties concerned.

"The meeting aims at solving the problem from its roots," Al-Din said, adding that all suspects had been arrested and no criminal act would go unpunished.

Al-Din had previously said that land disputes happened between citizens of all religions everywhere - and in this case there was no indication of a sectarian conflict.

"Virgin Mary's festival in the Upper Egyptian village of Samalot has really portrayed the deep relationship between Muslims and Christians in Egypt," Al-Din told (dpa)