Christian missionaries are bedeviling Hindus and converting them by lying and
bribing. Poor condition, which still exists in India under 60 years of Congress
misrule, is encouraging missionary transgressions. However, Christians forget
what will happen to them when Muslims dominate the sub-continent according to
Sonia's plan. More than twenty-one Christians and a church are blown away in
Egypt on the occasion of the New Year.
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/egypt-blast-in-alexandria-at-least-21-killed-76297
R. Singh
Egypt: Blast in Alexandria, at least 21 killed
Associated Press, Updated: January 01, 2011 15:58 IST
Alexandria: A car exploded in front of a Coptic Christian church as worshippers
emerged from a New Year's Mass in the Egyptian city of Alexandria early on
Saturday, killing at least 21 people, officials said.
After the blast, enraged Christians emerging from the church clashed with police
and stormed a nearby mosque, prompting fights and volleys of stone throwing with
Muslims, police and witnesses said - a sign of the sectarian anger that has been
arising with greater frequency in Egypt.
Nearly 1,000 Christians were attending the Mass at the Saints Church in the
Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, said a priest at the church, Father Mena
Adel.
The service had just ended, and worshippers were leaving the building when the
blast went off, about a half-hour after midnight.
The blast came from a car parked outside the church, but police said they were
still investigating whether the car had been rigged with explosives or if a bomb
had been placed under it.
Witnesses reported seeing the charred chassis of the destroyed car, with the
remains of several bodies nearby and dozens wounded.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that seven people were killed and 24
wounded.
Alexandria's governor, Adel Labib, put the death toll as high as 10.
Meanwhile a representative of the Ministry of Health, Alexandria Suleiman Mursi,
said that nine had died and 35 were injured.
There was no immediate explanation for the differences in casualty figures.
There was no claim of responsibility for the blast.
Labib blamed al-Qaida, pointing to recent threats by the group's branch in Iraq
to attack Christians.
It was not clear, however, if Labib had firm evidence, and he may have intended
more to deny any homegrown Muslim-Christian tensions in Egypt.
After the explosion, some Christians from the church clashed with police in
anger over the blast.
The Christians hurled stones at police and a nearby mosque, chanting, "With our
blood and soul, we redeem the cross," the witnesses said.
An AP photographer at the scene said the protesters stormed into the mosque,
throwing books inside out onto the street.
The protest sparked clashes with Muslims, as both sides began throwing stones
and bottles at each other in the streets.
The attack comes at a time of rising sectarian tension in Egypt and the broader
region.
In November, hundreds of Christians rioted in the capital, Cairo, smashing cars
and windows after police violently stopped the construction of a church.
The rare outbreak of Christian unrest in the capital left one person dead.
Christians are believed to make up about 10 percent of Egypt's mainly Muslim
population of nearly 80 (m) million people, and they have grown increasingly
vocal in complaints about discrimination.
There have been occasional attacks targeting Christians - most notably, in
January 2009, seven Christians were killed in a drive-by shooting on a church in
southern Egypt during celebrations for the Orthodox Coptic Christmas.
The Saints Church in Alexandria targeting early Saturday also came under attack
in April 2006, when a man with a knife stabbed worshippers.
At the same time, al-Qaida-linked militants have carried out a campaign of
attacks against Christians in Iraq, killing 68 in a church siege in October and
two more Christians in attacks in Baghdad on Thursday.
The attacks in Iraq have an unusual connection to Egypt.
Al-Qaida in Iraq says it is carrying out the campaign of anti-Christian attacks
in the name of two Egyptian Christian women who reportedly converted to Islam in
order to get divorces from their husbands.
The Coptic Church forbids almost all divorce, meaning leaving the religion is
sometimes the only option to escape an abusive or unhappy marriage.
The two women have since been secluded with Coptic Church authorities.
Islamic hard-liners in Egypt have held frequent protests in past months,
accusing the Church of imprisoning the women and forcing them to renounce Islam
and return to Christianity.
Al-Qaida in Iraq says it is carrying out attacks on Christians in that country
until Egyptian Church officials release the two women.
The Church denies holding the women against their will.
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Story first published:
January 01, 2011 15:45 IST
Tags: alexandria, egypt blast
Read more at:
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/egypt-blast-in-alexandria-at-least-21-killed-76297?cp
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