CAIRO - The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) Sunday slammed as 'political opportunism' remarks made by former chief of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei, in which he lashed out at the Government over a deadly blast outside a church just half an hour after the start of the New Year. "ElBaradei exploited the Alexandria church bombing to achieve political gains. His remarks against the Government are out of the political and psychological context," read an editorial on the ruling party's official website. The editorial, written by the website's managing editor Youssef Wardani, added that ElBaradei did not respect the feelings of the victims' families. "He (ElBaradei) tries to politicise the blast despite the shock gripping Egyptians," it added. On his Twitter account, ElBaradei, an opposition figure who returned to his home country last February after decades abroad to call for reform, had criticised the Government and Egyptian society. "Tragic events of the Two Saints Church: symptomatic of an impotent regime unable 2 protect its people & a disintegrating society about 2 implode," read a twit by the former chief of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). ElBaradei uploaded his twit on the social networking website just hours after the blast in Al-Qiddisein (the Two Saints) Church just half an hour after midnight on Friday. It was then reported that 21, mostly Copts, were killed in the bombing and 96 injured. The editorial on the NDP's official website, entitled “ElBaradei's Trading with the Church's Crisis”, pledged to criticise his remarks anew in the future. "The catastrophe is shocking that we have to stop our comment on ElBaradei's remarks. However, it's possible we will retackle it later." Meanwhile, some opposition powers, including the secular Al-Wafd Party and the banned Muslim Brotherhood, have set up a committee to defend the rights and freedoms of Egyptians, and agreed to hold a series of protests to show solidarity with Egyptian people over sectarian tensions. "This committee will be a public measure to confront the Government's failure in tackling the church incident," Saad el-Qatatani, a senior Brotherhood figure, told a press conference with other political figures. El-Sayyed el-Badawi, the chief of Al-Wafd, also accused security authorities of failure to protect churches despite repeated threats by al-Qaeda. "There will be a series of protests against this failure and a statement by political powers will be issued soon," el-Badawi said. The al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq threatened Egypt's Church over its treatment of women. The group alleged that the Coptic Church was holding two women after they had converted to Islam.
