Car bomb in Egypt kills at least 21 outside Christian church

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8:41AM GMT 01 Jan 2011
The blast hit worshippers as they emerged from a New Year's mass at the Mass at the Saints Church in the Mediterranean port city in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Nearly 1,000 Christians were attending the service and were just leaving the church when the car exploded at 12.30am on New Year's Day.
Sectarian tensions have been on the rise in Egypt and after the blast, enraged Christians clashed with police and stormed a nearby mosque.
Fights and stone throwing broke out between groups of Christians, Muslims and the police.
Although no one claimed immediate responsibility for the attack, authorities in Egypt blamed al-Qaeda for the attack.
Al-Qaeda's Iraq affiliate threatened Egypt's Copts late last year after claiming an attack on a Baghdad church on October 31 that left 44 worshippers, two priests and seven security forces dead.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing the charred chassis of the destroyed car, with the remains of several bodies nearby and dozens wounded.
Father Mena Adel, a priest at the church, said: "I was inside the church and heard a huge explosion. People's bodies were in flames."
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.
The Interior Ministry originally said in a statement that seven people were killed and 24 wounded. Senior Health Ministry official Osama Abdel Moneim later raised the toll to 21 after more bodies were transferred to hospitals.
Alexandria Governor Adel Labib immediately blamed al-Qaeda, pointing to recent threats by the terror group's branch in Iraq to attack Christians.
"The al-Qaeda organisation threatened to attack churches inside Egypt. This has nothing to do with sectarianism," he told state TV.
The bomb 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.
After the car 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," according to witnesses.
They then 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.
Christians are believed to make up about 10 per cent of Egypt's mainly Muslim population of nearly 80 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-Qaeda-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-Qaeda 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 hardliners 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-Qaeda 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.Car bomb in Egypt kills at least 21 outside Christian church - Telegraph