Alexandria--The Muslim Brotherhood vehemently denies any link to the New Year Eve attack on an Alexandria church which killed 21 Copts, a senior Brotherhood member said. Several government loyalists have hinted that the Brotherhood--Egypt's largest opposition group--has contributed to inciting religious tensions in Alexandria, especially prior to the recent parliamentary elections. The city is one of the group's strongholds. On Saturday, Abdel Allah Kamal, editor in chief of the state-run daily Rose al-Youssef and a member of the ruling National Democratic Party, told the Dubai-based Alarabiya satellite channel that the Brotherhood is partly to be blamed for stirring up anti-Coptic sentiments in Alexandria, which may have contributed to the attack. Copts were emerging from the St. Mark and St. Peter Church after the New Year Eve mass when the bombing occurred. "We have a religious duty to respect other religions. The regime wants a scapegoat for its failure to protect the churches, so they are blaming us with such ridiculous accusations,” Sobhi Saleh, a former Muslim Brotherhood MP in Alexandria, told Al-Masry Al-Youm. The Brotherhood condemned on Saturday “the barbaric and deadly blast which targeted a church in Alexandria, stressing vehemently our deep indignation toward this heinous and serious crime.” In a statement, the banned-but-tolerated group said that “Islam does not tolerate such barbaric actions, confirming that the attack is against all that it stands for.” Alexandria, a strong hub for both Christians and Islamists, has witnessed a series of sectarian-related attacks in recent years. In April 2006, a Coptic worshipper was stabbed to death in an Alexandria church, provoking a series of Christian demonstrations protesting insufficient security measures. Last year, a series of Salafi-organized demonstrations were held in the city to protest what they alleged to be the Coptic Church's refusal to release two Christian women who reportedly converted to Islam. Church officials claimed that the Salafi demonstrations were largely tolerated by security forces. On Saturday, the Coptic Orthodox Church hinted that the attack on the church had domestic causes. “As the church condemns the attack which threatens our security and the safety of our citizens, it also believes that the attack constitutes a serious escalation of sectarian violence against Copts,” the Church said in a statement. “The attack came as a result of the continuous sectarian agitation that has been fuming in the last months.”
