CAIRO EGYPT

The focus of the world has now moved to Egypt after 43 people were killed and at least another 100 were injured in bomb attacks on two Coptic churches that also included the seat of the Coptic Pope.

This is the latest assault on a religious minority which has become increasingly targeted by Daesh, also known as the so-called Islamic State.

By coincidence European Muslim League President Alfredo Maiolese was in Cairo for an international conference when the attacks in Fanta and Alexandria occurred.

EML President Maiolese, who is a strong leader on matters of interfaith, expressed his horror and sadness at the attacks which he noted happened a week before the Coptic Easter and the scheduled visit of Pope Francis to Egypt later this month.

"It seems that we can not pass a day without some atrocity, somewhere in the world, ripping the heart out of a community. That these particular attacks on the Christian communities in Egypt happened today, Palm Sunday, when millions around the globe are marking this poignant event in their calendar defies belief.

"We at EML are appalled by the cowardly nature of these two attacks on people while in the act of worship. I want our Christian brothers and sisters, where ever they are in the world today, to know that we are standing in solidarity with them and that they are in our thoughts and prayers.

"The vile acts of these cowards will not fragment our friendships or beliefs but will serve to make us stronger together and unite us in our different faiths rather than divide us," he said.

President Maiolese was speaking from Intercontinental Hotel in Cairo where he is attending a conference on International Relations.

The first bombing, in Tanta, a Nile Delta city about 100 km (60 miles) north of Cairo, tore through the inside of St. George Church during its Palm Sunday service, killing at least 27 people and injuring at least 78, according to the Ministry of Health.

 

The second, carried out a few hours later by a suicide bomber in Alexandria, hit Saint Mark's Cathedral, the historic seat of the Coptic Pope, killing 16 people, including three police officers, and injuring 41, added the ministry.

Coptic Pope Tawadros, who had attended mass at Saint Mark's Cathedral, was still in the building at the time of the explosion but was not harmed. he said shortly afterwards: "These acts will not harm the unity and cohesion of the people."