A car bomb explosion in the northern city of Alexandria left at least 7 dead and 24 injured, the ministry of Interior said in a statement. The bomb targeted churchgoers as they left a midnight mass service about half an hour after midnight. At least 1,000 worshipers had attended the Saints Church's New Year's Eve mass. One priest at the church told local press that the death toll could have been much higher if the bomb went off few minutes later as more people were leaving. Most of the injured were Muslims, local reports said. Al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack, a number of early reports indicated. They said the attack was in response to the holding of two Egyptian women they said had converted to Islam, but were being held hostage by the Coptic Church. Angry Copts, after the blast, clashed with police and local authorities used tear gas to break up the masses. Some of the angry crowed attacked a near by mosque and throw stones at people inside while many others demonstrated outside of the churches chanting pro-Christian cries. According to reports, Christians entered a nearby mosque and threw books onto the street in anger. Governor of Alexandria Adel Labib told Egyptian national television that “[they] have received threats from Al Qaeda network of eminent attacks on churches” and downplayed the attack calling it “not sectarian related.” The ministry announced that it was tightening security around all churches in the country, while security has been strengthened in other portal cities such as Marsa Matrouh in northern coast of the Mediterranean to prevent the attackers from fleeing the country. BM
