THE TRAGIC terrorist attack against an Egyptian Coptic Christian church in the western Libyan city of Misrata resulted in the death of two members of the congregation. The attack coincided with the second anniversary of the Two Saints (Al-Qiddisayn) Church in Alexandria. It is not known whether the two incidents are connected, but the attack shed light on the dynamics of the increasing security debacle in Libya. Militant Islamist groups in Libya have been especially active in the past few months. This is the first time that an Egyptian church was targeted in Libya. The port city of Misrata is notorious as a bastion of Islamic fundamentalist groups and a stronghold of forces that were instrumental in toppling the regime of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. There are an estimated 1.5 million Egyptians in Libya and most are professional and manual workers. The relationship between Egyptians resident in Libya and the indigenous Libyan population is generally satisfactory.
