CAIRO: The Egyptian Union for Human Rights Organization (EUHRO) presented a memo Monday to Minister of Justice Adel Abdel Hameed, demanding that a judge be appointed to investigate the Al-Qeddesine Church bombing that took place last January. The memo based its request on similar cases where a judge was appointed to investigate, such as the …
By Abdel Rahman Youssef ALEXANDRIA: Tens of protesters commemorated Friday the first anniversary of the death of a Salafi, who allegedly died as a result of torture at the hands of the disbanded state security apparatus. Sayed Bilal was arrested after the bombing of Al-Qeddesine Church in Alexandria last year, that left 24 dead and dozens …
ALEXANDRIA: Tens of protesters commemorated Friday the first anniversary of the death of a Salafi, who allegedly died as a result of torture at the hands of the disbanded state security apparatus. Sayed Bilal was arrested after the bombing of Al-Qeddesine Church in Alexandria last year, that left 24 dead and dozens injured, as state …
CAIRO: Just over a year ago, Amira Maurice was attending a New Year’s Eve Mass in the Saints Church in Egypt’s Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria with her parents and fiance, their marriage set for only a few months away. Then the bomb blast ripped through the church. Now, the 28-year-old pharmacist is in Germany …
CAIRO: The Alexandria Urgent cases court on Sunday postponed the case examining the Qeddesine Church bombing to Feb. 5, following requests to include new opponents including the military ruler Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi. Lawyers have requested the inclusion of Tantawi, head of the ruling military council, Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzoury and Minister of …
CAIRO: The State Security Prosecution opened Wednesday an investigation into a complaint filed against former Interior Minister Habib El-Adly, accusing him of killing 27 Copts in the bombing of Al-Qeddesine Church in Alexandria on New Year’s Eve. Lawyer Naguib Gobrael, the head of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights Organization, who filed the complaint, also …
By Essam Fadl The High State Security Prosecution office will investigate on Tuesday the alleged involvement of former Minister of Interior in the Alexandria Church attack on New Year’s, a source at the General Prosecutor’s office said. The source didn’t want to be named because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media. Coptic lawyer Mamdouh …
By Marwa Al-A’asar CAIRO: In an exclusive and rare interview in daily state-owned Al-Ahram published on Tuesday, Interior Minister El-Habib El-Adly reiterated details of the investigation into the Alexandria church bombing on New Year’s Eve. El-Adly announced for the first time that security authorities had arrested a cell of 19 suicide bombers linked to Al-Qaeda …
By AFP CAIRO: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Saturday that a deadly church attack in Alexandria on New Year’s Eve targeted the whole country and not just its Coptic Christians. The bombing outside the church that killed 23 people emerging from mass was “directed at Egypt and Egyptian unity and to weaken …
By Marwa Awad and Yasmine Saleh/Reuters CAIRO: Egypt’s interior minister said on Sunday the government had proof that the Army of Islam, a Palestinian group linked to Al-Qaeda, was behind the New Year’s Day bombing of a church that killed 23 people. The Army of Islam praised the attack but denied involvement. Egyptian officials had suspected …
By Essam Fadl ALEXANDRIA: Security forces arrested four people associated with Salafi group in connection with the New Year’s bomb attack outside Al-Qeddesine (The Church of the Two Saints) that left 23 people dead and over 90 injured. Sources associated with Salafi groups, who believe in a stricter interpretation of Islam, told Daily News Egypt …
By Abdel-Rahman Hussein CAIRO: A group of National Democratic Party (NDP) MPs have called for criminal charges against certain media outlets over their coverage of the Alexandria church bombing on Jan. 1 due to their “promotion of sectarian disunity.” The calls were spearheaded by MP and the president’s chief of staff Zakaria Azmi, who reportedly …
By Tamim Elyan CAIRO: Security forces dispersed a protest held in downtown Cairo in solidarity with Sayed Belal, a suspect in the Alexandria church attack allegedly tortured to death during investigations, arresting the majority of protestors. The protest, organized by Youth for Justice and Freedom, April 6, Free Front for Peaceful Change movements and a …
By Tamim Elyan CAIRO: Rod Al Farag Misdemeanors Court adjourned the trial of eight protesters arrested in Shubra last week to Jan. 20 to continue hearing the defense team. “The court heard the defense of five protesters and will continue hearing the rest next Thursday,” Ahmed Seif Al-Islam, head of the defense team, told Daily …
By Tamim Elyan CAIRO: State security detained 24-year-old Muslim Brotherhood (MB) member Mohamed Ismail on Jan. 5 as part of the investigation in the New Year’s attack on Al-Qeddesine (The Church of the Two Saints), said the MB’s Alexandria office. Ismail, a communications engineer for an industrial company, has been held for a week at the …
By Tamim Elyan CAIRO: A Salafi group in Alexandria condemned the deadly attack on the Church of the Two Saints on the New Year’s in a statement on its website, describing it as an “evil” that threatens Egypt and Islam. The group, which believes in a strict interpretation of Islam, denied any relation with the attack …
By Tamim Elyan CAIRO: Forensic and criminal evidence teams are set to present their final reports regarding the New Year’s Eve attack on Al-Qeddesine (Church of the Two Saints) in Alexandria to the General Prosecutor this Thursday. The forensic reports will be compared with witnesses’ testimonies to determine how the attack was executed. The investigation team …
By Farah Yousry CAIRO: Hundreds of Egyptian public figures signed a petition calling for the impeachment of Minister of Interior Habib El-Adly for abusing his powers in light of the New Year’s bombing in front of Al-Qeddesine (The Church of the Two Saints) in Alexandria. According to Arab Lotfy, a film studies professor at the American …
By Essam Fadl CAIRO: Two Coptic lawyers filed a lawsuit on Saturday to oblige the Minster of Interior to install surveillance cameras at churches, monasteries, and surrounding streets throughout the country to improve state security. Nabil Gabriel and Saied Fayez mentioned in their lawsuit that the New Year’s Eve bombing that took place in front of …
By AFP BAGHDAD: Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa rejects the potential “exploitation” of attacks on Christians in the Arab world as a pretext for intervention by outside powers, he said in Iraq on Saturday. “Exploiting these events for intervention is something we cannot accept,” Moussa said at a news conference in response to a …
By Tamim Elyan CAIRO: Human rights activists said that the family of Sayed Belal, a suspect in the Alexandria church attack allegedly tortured to death during investigations last Thursday, is being pressured to drop a torture case filed against state security. “Belal’s family has been under pressure from security organizations to give up the case or …
By Tamim Elyan CAIRO: Tens of protestors gathering in front of the Saad Zaghloul Mausoleum Friday night criticized the government’s response to the attack on an Alexandria church and demanded a secular state. Protestors denounced the New Year’s Eve attack on Al-Qeddissine (Church of Two Saints) in Alexandria — which killed 23 and injured more than …
By Tamim Elyan CAIRO: Experts and human rights groups said that the failed government policies in dealing with sectarian tensions in Egypt is what led to the rise in protests following the bomb attack in front of Al Qeddesine (Church of the Two Saints) in Alexandria on Jan. 1. In a series of protests that condemned …
By Abdel-Rahman Hussein CAIRO: About 150 people gathered at Qasr El Nil Bridge Friday afternoon to mourn the victims of the New Year’s Alexandria church bombing. Many of the mourners were holding Qurans and Bibles and reading from them as they faced the Nile. Some stood silent, sometimes with heads bowed down. Similar silent gatherings were …
By Tamim Elyan CAIRO: A suspect allegedly arrested during investigations of the attack on Al-Qeddesine (The Church of Two Saints) in Alexandria was tortured to death by state security officials, human rights groups said. A bombing that targeted worshipers leaving the church after New Year’s Mass left 23 dead and over 90 injured. Initial reports suggested …
By Heba Fahmy and Heba Afify CAIRO: The Rod El Farag Misdemenor Court on Thursday released eight protestors arrested earlier this week in Shubra and postponed the case to Jan. 13. Ahmed Ragheb, director of the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, said that the lawyers did not expect the court’s “brave decision” to release the activists and …
By Heba Fahmy CAIRO: Dozens of protesters staged a sit-in protest in front of the Omar Makram Mosque in Tahrir Square on Thursday, holding candles and expressing their solidarity with victims of the bombing that took place in front of Al-Qeddesine (the Church of the Two Saints) in Alexandria. Protesters accused the government of failing to …
By Heba Fahmy CAIRO: Muslims joined Christians in celebrating Coptic Christmas in churches throughout Cairo on Thursday night and, under tight security measures, prayed side-by-side for the safety of Egypt. At Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Abbasiya, Pope Shenouda III — the head of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church — gave his sermon in the presence of a …
By AFP RABAT: The protection of places of worship in Egypt is the responsibility of the government, an Egyptian minister said Wednesday, ruling out foreign security for Coptic Christians attacked this week. A New Year’s Day attack on a Copt church in Egypt that killed 23 people has raised alarm about the safety of Christians …
By AFP WASHINGTON: The United States said Tuesday it is “deeply concerned” about the rise in attacks against Christians in parts of the Middle East and Africa. “We are certainly aware of a recent string of attacks against Christians from Iraq to Egypt to Nigeria,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. “We are deeply concerned …
