Dutch Coptic churches threatened by al-Qaeda
3/01/2011
Three Coptic Orthodox churches in the Netherlands feature on an al-Qaeda list of possible bombing targets, say church spokespeople.
The churches in Eindhoven, Utrecht and Amsterdam are named on the website Shumukh al-Islam, along with dozens of other Coptic churches in Egypt and across Europe. The website has called for bomb attacks on the churches during the Coptic Christmas on 7 January.
The al-Qiddisin Church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, where at least 21 people were killed in a bomb attack on Saturday, also featured on the list.
Jozef Rizkalla, the priest of the Coptic Church in Eindhoven, said “There’s nothing we can do, we can only pray and refer the matter to the police. We will go on with our celebrations.”
