ALEXANDRIA - Cairo Christians and Muslims strongly condemned a car bomb that killed 21 Egyptians and injured 70 others at a Coptic church in the coastal city of Alexandria. The strongest condemnation came from the suburb of Hadayek el-Qubba, where there was anger over the TV scenes of victims in Khalil Hamada Street in Alexandria, where el-Kiddesseen Church is located. "It was extremely harrowing to see the bodies and blood of our Christian brothers filling the street after this hideous crime, which broke the hearts all the Egyptians," Sheikh Ahmed el-Sawi, the Imam of Mohamed Farag Mosque, said. “It is fairly a disgusting crime,” Sheikh Ahmed said. "This was a vicious attack. There is nothing that can explain this kind of crime. But the most important thing is that Egyptians should unite against terror and the police must quickly arrest those infidels behind this horrible crime and bring them to trial," Sheikh Ahmed told The Egyptian Gazette in an interview. Amm Mekhail Qaldus, the owner of an egg shop adjacent to the mosque, has branded the attack as "barbaric and vicious", leading a chorus of outrage from Muslim and Christian bystanders in the nearby el-Dewidar Street. "The fatal attack on the el-Kiddesseen (Saints) Church is an unacceptable terrorist attack and I condemn it with all my heart," Qaldus said, adding that God's justice would eventually prevail. But while the condemnation of the attack was very clear, Father Matta of the Great Martyr Mar Guirguis Church in Manshiyat el-Sadr, also in Cairo, urged the Muslims and the Copts “not to allow the incident to disrupt Egypt's national unity”. "After the cowardly attack, we, the Egyptians, are in a very sensitive and critical situation. It is, therefore, important that both the Muslims and the Copts despite what has happened must be firmly determined to protect their unity and country," he told this newspaper. "I sincerely hope this heinous attack will strengthen both sides' determination to protect their unity and save Egypt from the horror of terrorism." Christians account for around 10 per cent of Egypt's 80 million population. Over recent years, there have been tensions between the nation's Muslims and Christians. Marwa Saeed, a Muslim teacher at el-Eman Commercial School, who has also condemned the church attack as “a horrible crime”, urged the Copts not to react with violent action against the Muslims in Alexandria. "The lives of the Muslims, who bear no responsibility for Saturday's attack in Alexandria, should not be put in jeopardy as a result," Marwa said. However, attempts by some passers-by in el-Garage Street to identify the mastermind of the attack fell apart amid an angry reaction from George Adel, a shoe shop owner. "This attack is clearly an attempt to strike a blow at the very heart of the Christians in Egypt and drive them out of their country," George, 20, said Ahmed el-Sharkawy, the owner of food shop in el-Dewidar Street, meanwhile, said: "I think it's very important to emphasise that those people who want to destabilise Egypt by driving a wedge between the Muslims and the Copts, should be stopped from doing so by the combined determination of the whole Egyptians”. Eitadal Hafez, a Muslim, said that she was devastated by the attack and condemned it as a "cowardly and barbarous" crime against all the Egyptians. "I strongly and unreservedly condemn this terrorist act, which has no justification," Hafez said, adding that she would insist on the importance of maintaining unity between
