My World Earth: Suspects in Egypt Copt shooting turn themselves in-Six Egyptian Copts killed in Christmas Eve attack

Friday, January 8, 2010

Suspects in Egypt Copt shooting turn themselves in-Six Egyptian Copts killed in Christmas Eve attack

Men in southern Egypt tried Thursday to calm Christians angry about a deadly drive-by shooting at a Coptic church the night before. Thousands of Christians rioted in the town of Nag Hammadi.

the head of the Coptic minority, Pope Shenuda III, led a Christmas midnight mass at the Abbassiya church in Cairo which was attended by thousands of worshippers.

An Egyptian Coptic church appears behind a mosque in Cairo

The Christmas midnight mass in Cairo was attended by thousands of worshippers.Gamal Mubarak, the son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who has been widely tipped as being the next head of state, was among several prominent figures who attended the mass, an AFP photographer said.

The shooting outside a church on Wednesday night sparked clashes the following day

The killing of seven in a drive-by shooting that targeted Egyptian Coptic Christians leaving a Christmas Eve midnight Mass has triggered clashes with police during a funeral procession for the victims.

Three suspects in a shooting that killed six Coptic Christians and a Muslim policeman in southern Egypt have turned themselves in after being squeezed in a police cordon, security sources said on Friday.

Police said they had surrounded the area around the city of Nagaa Hamady where the shooting took place on Wednesday and closed all possible routes of escape.

The killings took place just before midnight on Coptic Christmas Eve when a gunman, accompanied by two others, fired on Christians in a shopping area in Nagaa Hamady, killing two, then went to Mary Guirguis Church and shot five more, including the church's Muslim guard.

The interior ministry said on Thursday that a preliminary investigation suggested the gunman was a Muslim criminal known to police, and that the attack was related to the alleged rape of a Muslim woman by a Christian more than a month earlier.

About 1,000 Coptic Christians staged a protest in Nagaa Hamady on Thursday, saying the attack was an act of persecution aimed at Egyptian Christians.

Egypt's government denied it was sectarian violence, however, and said it was an isolated incident.

"The Nagaa Hamady incident is a crime committed by a thug and does not have anything to do with Islam," Khairat Osman, secretary-general of Egypt's ruling party in Qena governorate, where Nagaa Hamady is located, was quoted as saying by state agency MENA.

"All religions promote peace and love, and there are good relations between Coptics and Muslims."

Police are investigating the motive.Christians account for about 10 percent of Egypt's predominantly Muslim population of around 78 million. Sectarian violence is rare but disputes occasionally erupt.

Southern Egypt is relatively undeveloped compared with the capital Cairo. Nagaa Hamady, which has a large coptic population, is about 60 km (40 miles) north of the tourist and archaeological centre of Luxor.

Attackers in a car raked a crowd of shoppers in a south Egypt town with gunfire, killing a policemen and six Coptic Christians on the eve of their Christmas celebrations, a security official said on Thursday.

The drive-by shooting took place late Wednesday in the southern Egyptian town of Nagaa Hammadi as Copts were preparing for Christmas which they celebrate January 7 along with other Orthodox communities, the official said.

Witnesses however gave a conflicting account of the attack, saying the gunmen struck as worshippers emerged from midnight mass at the main church in Nagaa Hammadi.

"Three unidentified individuals in a car opened fire on Christians in a shopping district as they were making purchases for Christmas," the security official said, as cited by state-run MENA news agency.

Nine other Copts were wounded in the shooting, he added.

The gunmen also opened fire "in front of a convent located in an rural area" near the town, in the province of Qana, 700 kilometres (435 miles) south of Cairo, the official said.

Witnesses, cited by local officials, said the main gunman, a Muslim, is wanted by police and linked the incident to the abduction of a 12-year-old Muslim girl in November who was allegedly raped by a Coptic youth.

"The first elements of the investigation, based on testimony of people on the ground, indicate that the main shooter is a town resident identified as Mohammed Ahmed Hussein, who is wanted by the police," one official said.

In November, hundreds of Muslim protesters torched Christian-owned shops in the town of Farshut, near Nagaa Hammadi, and attacked a police station where they believed the suspected rapist was being held.

That incident was the latest in a string of sectarian tensions in 2009 between Muslims and Egypt's Copts -- the Middle East's largest Christian community who represent roughly 10 percent of Egypt's 80-million population.

Copts have complained over the years of frequent discrimination, harassment and that they are the targets of sectarian attacks. They also allege they are overlooked in top jobs in the army, police and judiciary. Related article: Copts, police clash in south Egypt

On Wednesday, the head of the Coptic minority, Pope Shenuda III, led a Christmas midnight mass at the Abbassiya church in Cairo which was attended by thousands of worshippers.

Gamal Mubarak, the son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who has been widely tipped as being the next head of state, was among several prominent figures who attended the mass, an AFP photographer said.

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