Egypt Copts hold vigil for Iraq church attack Victims
9/11/2010
CAIRO — Coptic Christians held a candlelight vigil in front of the Iraqi embassy in Cairo on Monday after a deadly hostage-taking in a Baghdad church and Al-Qaeda threats against Copts and other Christians.
About 40 Copts and some Muslims who attended the vigil held candles and placards condemning extremism.
At least 46 hostages, including two priests, were killed during a hostage drama with Al-Qaeda gunmen in Baghdad’s Sayidat al-Nejat Syriac Catholic cathedral during Sunday mass on October 31.
An Al-Qaeda group, claiming responsibility for the hostage taking, threatened to target the region’s Christians if the Coptic church in Egypt did not release two women rumoured to have converted to Islam.
Security around Coptic churches in Egypt has been tightened after the church attack, which was denounced by Egyptian Islamic figureheads.
Copts, who make up between six and 10 percent of the country’s 80-million population, are sometimes the target of sectarian violence and complain of discrimination by the government.
In an Internet audio tape, the Islamic State of Iraq referred to two priests’ wives who left their homes in separate incidents and who were rumoured to have converted to Islam before police escorted them back.
The Coptic church denied they had converted to Islam.
