Coptic Christian communities in Australia, Canada and France fear attacks similar to the deadly suicide bombing at a church in Alexandria, Egypt at a New Year’s celebration that claimed 22 lives. Copts in Canada are asking police to step up security ahead of this week’s Christmas celebrations, and in Australia ceremonies have been cancelled amid threats against Coptic churches.
Shenouda III, the head of the Coptic Christian church in Egypt, appealed to his followers for calm on public television 3 January as enraged Copts clashed with riot police in various Egyptian cities for the third day leaving several people injured. He asked the government to address the issues affecting the Coptic community.
Copts make up 10 percent of the population of Egypt and say they are increasingly discriminated against in majority-Muslim Egypt. It is the largest non-Muslim religious minority in the Middle East. Al-Qaeda in Iraq announced last year that Christians were legitimate targets in the Middle East and attacked a Chaldean Christian church in Baghdad 31 October and massacred 54 people.
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Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt has benefited from an outpouring of nationalist fervour following the Egyptian soccer team’s loss to Algeria after two qualifying matches 14 and 18 November. The fallout from the football matches has included Egyptians being attacked in Algiers, Algeria, and a rupture in diplomatic ties between the two countries. Mubarak addressed the country’s parliament Saturday 21 November and vowed to protect the dignity of Egyptian citizens living abroad, to loud applause.
The incidents surrounding the arrival of the Algerian football team in Cairo, Egypt 14 November for a World Cup qualifying match with arch-rivals Egypt are to be investigated by the disciplinary committee of the world football regulatory body, Fifa announced 19 November. The bus carrying the Algerian team was beset by rioters and stoned as it moved from the airport to the hotel.
