Synagogue suspect caught THE MINISTRY of Interior has announced the arrest of a 49-year-old, Gamal Hussein Ahmed, suspected of throwing a suitcase containing a makeshift bomb at a downtown Cairo synagogue Sunday morning which caused no damage or injuries. The bomb reportedly was made of cans of gasoline and a bottle of sulfuric acid inside a suitcase. Police authorities said that a man checked into the Panorama Hotel across the street from the historic synagogue and as his request was being processed, he threw the suitcase containing the makeshift bomb from a fourth-floor window. The suitcase caught fire but did not explode. He initially escaped through a small alleyway next to the hotel building. Authorities arrested the suspect on 23 February who works as a tailor and lives in Boulaq district. Ahmed was previously arrested for his past criminal record. Forensics units were examining what looked like charred materials on the pavement opposite the temple. The materials appeared to be clothes next to which were two or three dark green bottles. There were broken glass shards along the length of the street opposite the temple, and the smell of sulfur was detectable. One tourist present at the scene told the press that early Sunday morning he saw a fire opposite the synagogue. "But it was just a small fire. I don't understand what all the fuss is about?" Another eyewitness described what he said was a "bag on fire" on the pavement. The downtown synagogue, Egypt's largest, is the only one still conducting services for the Jewish holidays which are sometimes attended by Israeli diplomats. Most Jews left Egypt 50 years ago after hostilities between Jews and Arabs erupted. But there are still some elderly Jews in Cairo who use the synagogue, known as Shear Hashamayim, or the Gate of Heaven. Israeli diplomats also occasionally attend services at the temple which was built in 1899. Muslims acquitted A COURT has exonerated four Muslims accused of murdering an elderly Christian. According to the 22 February ruling, witnesses' testimony did not prove the Muslims were the assailants. The men were arrested last October after an elderly Christian man was killed in the southern village of Dairut. They allegedly planned to attack the man's son for dating a Muslim girl. It was rumoured that the son had circulated a CD, with explicit pictures of the girl, in the village. The Assiut Court judge stated he was not satisfied with witness testimony that the men were the killers. Muslim villagers clashed with Christian residents after the men's arrest, stoning churches and Christian-owned houses. Life in jail FIVE Muslims have been sentenced to life in prison for murdering two Christian men in a family blood-feud in Upper Egypt. The Luxor Court on Monday found the five guilty of shooting to death two Christians in the town of Higaza last April in a feud between the two families that goes back to 2004. Tension between Muslims and Christians in southern Egypt increased last month following a drive-by shooting in the town of Nagaa Hammadi where six Christians and a Muslim policeman were killed. The State Security Court has since put on trial three Muslim suspects in the killings.
