 Angry Copts chant anti-government slogans during a protest before clashing with Egyptian riot police in Cairo. AP photo |
While Europe's religious communities are on alert during Orthodox Christianity's Christmas festivities after attack threasts were published on Islamist websites, Egypt has heightened security around churches following a New Year's Day bombing in Alexandria that killed 21.
As Egyptian police released a sketch of the suspected bomber, Egyptian authorities drew a heavy security cordon around the main Coptic cathedral in Cairo hours before Christmas Eve Mass, deploying bomb-sniffing dogs, metal detectors and officers in attempts to prevent another possible attack.
No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the Alexandria bombing, which came after an al-Qaeda-linked group in Iraq threatened Egypt's Copts after announcing that it had carried out a deadly October assault on a Syriac Catholic church in Baghdad.
The group, calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq, said it would attack Copts if their church failed to release two women the group claimed were being held against their will after converting to Islam.
The bombing sparked days of protests and riots around the country, leaving dozens of policemen and protesters injured. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has vowed to find those responsible for the New Year's Day bombing which he said targeted all Egyptians, regardless of their faith, and blamed "foreign hands."
Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday that Christian communities were being "tested," as many of Europe’s Orthodox Christian communities were on alert as they observed Christmas Eve following the publication on Islamist websites of threats of attacks.
Italy has stepped up security measures to defend the few thousand Coptic Christians who live in the country, Italian newspapers reported, while police in France, Germany, the Netherlands and other countries have also increased surveillance on Orthodox Coptic Christian churches.
In Italy, Copts have asked for special protection and in Chatenay-Malabry, just outside Paris, metal barricades surround the church of St. Mary and St. Mark – a vivid sign of the fear that has been injected into the Coptic season of peace.
Meanwhile Angelo Bagnasco, head of the Italian bishops' conference, called on Europe to speak out against rising anti-Christian violence. "We are astonished by such violence and religious intolerance... The international community, starting with Europe, should speak with a strong and clear voice for the defense of religious freedom," he said during a sermon.
Compiled from AFP and AP reports by the Daily News staff.
As Egyptian police released a sketch of the suspected bomber, Egyptian authorities drew a heavy security cordon around the main Coptic cathedral in Cairo hours before Christmas Eve Mass, deploying bomb-sniffing dogs, metal detectors and officers in attempts to prevent another possible attack.
No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the Alexandria bombing, which came after an al-Qaeda-linked group in Iraq threatened Egypt's Copts after announcing that it had carried out a deadly October assault on a Syriac Catholic church in Baghdad.
The group, calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq, said it would attack Copts if their church failed to release two women the group claimed were being held against their will after converting to Islam.
The bombing sparked days of protests and riots around the country, leaving dozens of policemen and protesters injured. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has vowed to find those responsible for the New Year's Day bombing which he said targeted all Egyptians, regardless of their faith, and blamed "foreign hands."
Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday that Christian communities were being "tested," as many of Europe’s Orthodox Christian communities were on alert as they observed Christmas Eve following the publication on Islamist websites of threats of attacks.
Italy has stepped up security measures to defend the few thousand Coptic Christians who live in the country, Italian newspapers reported, while police in France, Germany, the Netherlands and other countries have also increased surveillance on Orthodox Coptic Christian churches.
In Italy, Copts have asked for special protection and in Chatenay-Malabry, just outside Paris, metal barricades surround the church of St. Mary and St. Mark – a vivid sign of the fear that has been injected into the Coptic season of peace.
Meanwhile Angelo Bagnasco, head of the Italian bishops' conference, called on Europe to speak out against rising anti-Christian violence. "We are astonished by such violence and religious intolerance... The international community, starting with Europe, should speak with a strong and clear voice for the defense of religious freedom," he said during a sermon.
Compiled from AFP and AP reports by the Daily News staff.
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