The AP tells of the tragedy in Egypt where Coptic Christians were killed in a suicide bombing at mass.
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt – Christians clashed with Egyptian police in the northern city of Alexandria on Saturday, furious over an apparent suicide bombing against worshippers leaving a New Year’s Mass at a church that killed at least 21 people. It was the worst violence against the country’s Christian minority in a decade.
The Interior Ministry blamed “foreign elements,” and the Alexandria governor accused al-Qaida, pointing to the terror network’s branch in Iraq, which has carried out a string of attacks on Christians there and has threatened Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Christian community as well.
Egypt’s government has long insisted that the terror network does not have a significant presence in the country, and it has never been conclusively linked to any attacks here. If al-Qaida was involved, it raises the prospect of a serious new security threat within Egypt.
President Barack Obama condemned “this barbaric and heinous act” and said those behind it must be brought to justice.
Let us pray for peace. Amen.