Asia

Asia

Death Toll in Egypt Bombing Hits 23

04 January 2011 20:09 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The death toll from a New Year’s Day bombing outside a Coptic Christian church rose Tuesday by two, to 23, according to the government, as Egyptian security forces gird for Coptic Christmas, celebrated on Friday, APA reports quoting The Wall Street Journal.
Since the early-morning bombing Saturday in the port city of Alexandria, Christian demonstrators have held protests across the country, criticizing what they say is the government’s inaction amid violence and alleged discrimination. Several protests have turned violent. State media reported clashes over the weekend and Monday, with more than a dozen injured police.
Details of the attack remain disputed. On Tuesday, it was still unclear if it was a car bombing, as authorities originally claimed, or a suicide bombing. Egypt’s government also initially blamed foreigners, casting suspicion on al Qaeda or one of its affiliates. More recently, government-owned newspapers have reported that investigators are now focusing on local militants, who may have been inspired by the global terror group.
Coptic Christians, who make up about 10% of Muslim-majority Egypt, have long blamed the government of President Hosni Mubarak for allowing, if not tacitly encouraging, discrimination against Christians. Saturday’s attack triggered more public criticism.
Pope Shenouda III, the patriarch of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church, appealed for calm in an interview on state television on Monday. But his comments also were a rare, though mild, rebuke to the government and a call to repeal legislation long seen as discriminatory toward Christians.
"The state also has a duty. It must see to the problems of the Copts and try to resolve them," Pope Shenouda said. "There are laws that are painful to some, and despite our commitment to the laws, the pain is still there, and this needs to be addressed."
Egyptian law prohibits construction or maintenance of churches without permission from local authorities. The law has been used to stop or slow Christians from building churches or improving old ones.
In November, hundreds of young Coptic men rioted after local officials blocked construction of a church inside an existing Coptic community center in the Cairo suburb of Omraniya. Two Coptic men were killed, and 152 were arrested.
On Tuesday, Egypt’s attorney general released 23 Coptic protesters, whom police had held since the November rioting. And in another possible sign of conciliation on the government’s part, Egypt’s Shura Council, the country’s upper legislative house, on Monday discussed amending the statute dealing with church construction.
Mofeed Shehab, the minister of legal affairs and a leader in Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party, defended the government’s policies toward religious minorities during the session.
"The number of churches that has been built over the thirty years of President Hosni Mubarak’s rule (is) far greater than the number of churches that (has) been built since Christianity came to Egypt," said Mr. Shehab. Coptic leaders say no new churches have been built in recent memory.
Egyptian sectarian tensions have risen in recent months after some conservative Islamists accused the Coptic church of kidnapping and holding two Christian women who had sought to convert to Islamâ€”a charge the church denies.
In October, an al Qaeda-linked group in Iraq killed dozens in a church attack in Baghdad. The group, the Islamic State of Iraq, said it was fighting to "avenge the burning of the Qurans and the jailing of Muslim women in Egypt" and called on faithful Muslims to attack churches and Christians as "legitimate targets."