Mass held at bombed Egyptian church

Christians attend Sunday service at Coptic church in Alexandria struck by New Year's car bomb. Last Modified: 02 Jan 2011 11:09 GMT

An Egyptian Christian mourns upon arrival at the Al-Qiddissine (The Saints) church in Alexandria [AFP] Congregants were back praying in a church targeted a day earlier in a bomb blast that killed 21 and wounded 97 people. Dozens attended Sunday Mass at Al-Qiddissine church in Egypt's Mediterranean port city of Alexandria while riot police backed by armored vehicles were deployed outside. Meanwhile, Egyptian security sources said they had arrested 17 people suspected of involvement in the bombing. Sunday's service was marked by the grief and anger felt by a congregation devastated by the attack, which took place on Saturday outside the church's door about 30 minutes into the New Year. Many sobbed while others cried hysterically, screamed in anger or slapped themselves. "We spend every feast in grief," Sohair Fawzy, who lost two sisters and a niece in the attack, said. Grim reminders of the attack remained in the church a day after the bombing. Its ground floor was stained with the blood of victims brought inside immediately after the attack. Two statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary were toppled and the benches were scattered by the impact of the blast. And a "2011" sign hung on the inside of the church's door was torn apart. The attack Saturday was the worst violence against Egypt's Christian minority in a decade. It sparked clashes between riot police and Christians who say the government hasn't done enough to protect them. The Copts are the biggest Christian community in the Middle East and account for up to 10 per cent of Egypt's 80 million population. No bombing claim There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday's bombing, which came as nearly 1,000 faithful left Al-Qiddissine Church, located in Alexandria's Sidi Bechr district. According to the Egyptian interior ministry, the car that exploded was parked in front of the church. After the blast occurred early on Saturday morning, enraged Christians emerging from the church fought with police and stormed a nearby mosque. In pictures Day of anger in Egypt Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from the Egyptian capital Cairo, said that the car bomb probably involved sophisticated remote-control timer technology. "Churches in Egypt are heavily guarded, so undoubtedly questions will arise about how a car was parked so close to the church and who was able to detonate it from a distance," he said. While it was not known who was responsible for the blast, a group calling itself "al-Qaeda in Iraq" had threatened the country's Coptic Christian community. The Egyptian interior ministry blamed the bombing on "foreign elements". Adel Labib, Alexandria's governor, has linked the attack to al-Qaida, but our correspondent says the government has not made clear who they were blaming for the bombing. Egypt's government has long insisted that the terror network does not have a significant presence in the country, and it has never been conclusively linked to any attacks here. Plea for protection The attack in Egypt prompted Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican to call for Christians throughout the Middle East to be protected. The bombing comes almost two months to the day after an October 31 attack by Muslim fighters on Our Lady of Salvation church in central Baghdad, which left 44 worshippers, two priests and seven security forces members dead. Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate claimed responsibility for that attack and made new threats against Christians. The group threatened to attack Egyptian Copts if their church did not free two Christians it said had been "imprisoned in their monasteries" for having converted to Islam. The two women were Camilia Chehata and Wafa Constantine, the wives of Coptic priests whose claimed conversion caused a stir in Egypt. Protection around Copt places of worship was discreetly stepped up after the threats, as Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, said he was committed to protecting the Christians "faced with the forces of terrorism and extremism".

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies