Church bombing Attack kills 21 people in Egypt on New Year’s Day

Probe focuses on Islamic group

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt — Egyptian police are focusing their investigation into the New Year’s suicide bombing of a church on a group of Islamic hard-liners inspired by al-Qaida and based in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria where the attack killed 21 people, security officials said Sunday.

The bombing touched off riots and protests by Egypt’s Christian minority, who feel they are targeted and discriminated against and do not get adequate protection from authorities. There were signs of beefed up security outside churches nationwide and dozens returned to pray Sunday in the bombed, blood-spattered Saints Church — many of them sobbing, screaming in anger and slapping themselves in grief.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack on Coptic Christians leaving a midnight Mass about a half hour into the new year Saturday, the worst attack on Egyptian Christians in a decade. In the immediate aftermath, President Hosni Mubarak blamed foreigners and the Alexandria governor accused al-Qaida, pointing to threats against Christians by the terror network’s branch in Iraq.

But on Sunday, security officials said police are looking at the possibility that homegrown Islamic extremists were behind it, and perhaps were inspired by al-Qaida though not directly under foreign command.

Investigators were also examining lists of air passengers who arrived recently in Egypt from Iraq because al-Qaida in Iraq threatened Christians in both countries. They said they are looking for any evidence of an al-Qaida financier or organizer who may have visited Egypt to recruit the bomber and his support team from local militants.

Investigators were also examining two heads found at the site on suspicion that at least one was the bomber’s, state news agency MENA reported. The crime lab investigation found the explosives used were locally made and were filled with nails and ball bearings to maximize the number of casualties.

Egypt’s government has long insisted that al-Qaida does not have a significant presence in the country, and it has never been conclusively linked to any attacks here.

Egypt does, however, have a rising movement of Islamic hard-liners who, while they do not advocate violence, adhere to an ideology similar in other ways to al-Qaida. There have been fears they could be further radicalized by sectarian tensions. The hard-liners, known as Salafis, have a large and active presence in Alexandria.

Christians staged demonstrations in at least three cities to protest what they see as the government’s failure to protect their community, but police moved quickly to break up the gatherings.

Sally Moore, another Christian protester, said Muslim and Coptic protesters are planning to form a “human shield” outside major churches in Cairo on Coptic Christmas Eve on Jan. 6 in a show of solidarity.

“The security is protecting the regime, not the people, not the churches,” she said.

Father Maqar, who led the service, did not give a sermon, preferring to express his grief with silence.