Mubarak urges Christians, Muslims to close ranks

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged Christians and Muslims to close ranks and confront “terrorism” after a New Year’s day car bomb attack on a church Saturday killed 21 people.

“President Hosni Mubarak has been following up on the criminal terrorist act from the moment it occurred and throughout the night and until dawn today,” the state-run MENA news agency reported. (more…)

Egypt arrests 3 suspects in Copt killings

Egyptian police say they have arrested three suspects in a drive-by shooting that killed six Coptic Christians and one security official.
The shooting came as worshippers left a church in Naj Hammadi, southern Egypt after a midnight mass on Coptic Christmas Eve on 7 January.
On Thursday protesters clashed with police at the hospital in Naga Hamady. BBC

Egyptians riot after 7 killed in church attack

Thousands clashed with police during a funeral procession Thursday for the seven people killed in an attack on churchgoers leaving a midnight Mass for Coptic Christians, security officials said.
The protesters pelted cars with stones. Earlier, they smashed ambulances at the hospital in frustration over delays in turning over the bodies for burial. A security official says police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The riots follow an attack the previous night, in which three gunmen in a car sprayed automatic gunfire into a crowd leaving a church in the town of Nag Hamadi, about 40 miles from the ancient ruins of Luxor. The lead attacker was identified as a Muslim. Washington Post