More Condemnations to “Cowardly” Egypt Church Attack, Authorities Arrest 17

02/01/2011 Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has condemned an apparent suicide bombing that killed 21 people at a church in Alexandria, Egypt, a government statement released on Sunday said.

Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate has said it attacked a Baghdad church because two women who allegedly converted to Islam were being held hostage by Egypt's Coptic Church, and threatened Christians in the region, including in Egypt.

"This awful crime targeted both Christians and Muslims, both innocent," the statement quoted a message from Maliki to Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif as saying. "It demonstrates again the criminal nature of the terrorists. "We in Iraq, government and people, find ourselves on the side of our brothers in Egypt in standing against this heinous attack, and we are fully confident in the ability of the people of Egypt and their wise leaders to overcome this ordeal," it said.

An Egyptian health ministry official said 21 people were killed and 79 wounded in the bombing early on Saturday that targeted worshippers emerging from New Year's Eve mass. The Egyptian interior ministry said eight of those wounded were Muslims.

Egyptian police say they have arrested 17 people over the bomb attack. The arrests came as authorities deployed heavy security forces, including riot police backed by armored vehicles, outside the Coptic Al-Qiddissin church on Sunday, al-Jazeera reported.

Meanwhile dozens of congregants returned to the blood-spattered church to condemn the deadly attack. The attack sparked angry street protests in the Mediterranean port city among Christians who accuse authorities of not doing enough to protect the minority group in the country.

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday condemned the "cowardly" New Year's Eve suicide attack. "This cowardly gesture of death, like that in which bombs were left near the homes of Christians in Iraq to force them to leave, is an offense against God and all humanity," Benedict told hundreds of pilgrims in St Peter's Square.

"Faced with this strategy of violence targeting Christians, and the consequences for all the population, I pray for the victims and their loved ones," the pope said during his Sunday Angelus address.

Hezbollah also offered its condolences to the families of victims who died in the bombing in Egypt on Saturday. According to a statement issued by Hezbollah’s press office on Saturday, the party voiced hope that the related authorities find out who the criminals behind this bombing are. The most dangerous conspiracies are those that target religious co-existence to serve US-Israeli interests, the statement added.

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