CAIRO - Thousands of Egyptian Muslims and Christians protested in Cairo and several cities nationwide Monday in protest against a New Year terror attack against a church in the coastal city of Alexandria that killed 21 Copts. The protests were held outside the Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo's Abbasiya area, Al-Tahrir Square and in most Egyptian universities in Cairo and other governorates, prompting Cabinet ministers to transfer their meetings to October 6th City, outside the Egyptian capital. "Mohamed will stay a friend of Eissa (Jesus) and the Mosque will continue to neighbour the Church" was a banner raised by Cairo University students, who called for national unity against perceived bids to foment sectarian hatred in Egypt. Protesters in Cairo University, the nation's biggest public university, included lecturers, deans of faculties and employees, condemned the attack on the Al-Qiddissein (The Two Saints) Church at midnight on Friday, just 20 minutes after the start of the New Year. "Sedition will never find its way to Egypt" and "Stability will reign" were two other banners raised by students in Ain Shams and Helwan public universities in Greater Cairo. More than 3,000 students in the two universities protested the terrorist attack. "We are mourning the Coptic and Muslim martyrs, who fell due to the Alexandria blast," Maged el-Deeb, the President of Ain Shams University told the congregation Monday, who all observed a minute of silence to mourn those killed in the bombing. El-Deeb urged all Muslims in Egypt to attend the Coptic Christmas festivities with their Coptic compatriots in churches to "show solidarity with them against terror". In Zagazig, Fayyoum, Menoufia, Minya, Assiut and Alexandria universities, similar protests were held in which thousands of students and lecturers denounced the bombing of the Alexandria church. "Let the Cross live with the Crescent" was the common slogan chanted by protesters nationwide. In the Cairo-based Bar Association, the Committee of Political Affairs called on Egyptian authorities to evict the Israeli ambassador in Egypt, accusing Israel's intelligence service of plotting the terror attack to incite sectarian tensions in the country. "There are so many indications that the Mossad is involved," said Ibrahim Elias, head of the committee. However, Elias mentioned as one indication a November interview by former Mossad chief, who said that the Israelis succeeded to stir tension between Muslims and Christians in Egypt. New clues to terrorists Although no breakthrough was announced in the investigations over the masterminds and perpetrators of the bombing outside the Alexandria church, a security official said they had some important clues. "All we know now is the fact that the suicide bomber tried to enter the church to cause more havoc and deaths, but he did not manage to do this for one reason or another," the official said. He added that police were questioning seven suspects over the blast. "Still, foreign elements are likely involved in this terror act," he said. The Public Prosecution has received the forensic report of the bombing Monday as Chief Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud is expected to visit the scene of the attack for the second time Tuesday. Conflicting reports were uploaded to websites managed by an al-Qaeda-inspired group, which first claimed responsibility for the bombing before it retreated, saying that its threats were still in effect. The group demanded the release of two women, Camelia Shehata and Wafa Constantine, both priests' wives, whom it said the Coptic Church was holding against their will after they had allegedly converted to Islam. An al-Qaeda-linked website posted in December a list of Egyptian churches it said should be attacked, including the church targeted in the Alexandria bombing. Aparliamentary spat As the Shura Council (the Upper House of Egypt's Parliament) was having a session on the Alexandria bombing, Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Mufied Shehab said that President Hosni Mubarak had never turned down a request to build a new church over the last 30 years. Shehab's remark was made as MP Refaat el-Saeed, the head of the opposition Tagammu Unionist Party, accused the Government of being partially responsible for the bombing. "Lagging in issuing the Unified Worship Places Bill is one reason for such incidents," el-Saeed said. Shehab rebuffed him, saying angrily: "What happened was a sheer terror attack that is aimed at destabilising Egypt".
Coptic anger escalates Hundreds of angry Copts, meanwhile, protested against the bombing, blaming security authorities for an alleged lack of measures that led to the blast despite threats from an al-Qaeda-affiliated group two months ago. "The Interior Ministry should stay away from the sectarian file and those who fuel tensions between Muslims and Christians should also be put on trial,” said Naguib Gabriel, a lawyer close to Pope Shenouda III, the head of the Orthodox Church in Egypt. The Health Ministry, meanwhile, said that around 27 Coptic protesters and policemen were injured Sunday night during the protests that erupted into clashes outside the Abbassiya Cathedral in Cairo. "Nineteen of the injured left hospitals as eight others were admitted to Cairo hospitals for treatment," read a statement by the Ministry. No arrests were made in the clashes during which angry Copts threw stones at policemen. Several stores and cars were also damaged during rioting.
