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7 Dead, 24 Wounded in Egypt Church Blast

   VOA News 31 December 2010

Photo: AFP

   An  Egyptian  official inspects a car bomb following a car bomb attack
   on  a  Christian  church  in  the  Egyptian port city of Alexandria on
   January 1, 2011.

   An explosion has killed at least seven people at a Christian church in
   Alexandria, Egypt, where worshippers had gathered to celebrate mass on
   New Year's Eve.
   Egypt's  Interior  Ministry  said  in  a statement early Saturday that
   seven  people  were killed and 24 wounded in the blast, which occurred
   about a half-hour after midnight on New Year's Day.
   The  explosion  came  from a car parked in front of the church. It was
   not clear whether the bomb had been inside the car or under it.

   Al-Qaida's  affiliate  in Iraq claimed responsibility for the bomb,
   saying  it  was  retaliation  for  two  Egyptian  Christian  women who
   converted  to  Islam.  Al-Qaida says the women are being held hostage
   by the Christians for having converted.

   Some Egyptian Christians - known as Copts - are protesting at the site
   of the explosion.

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