Terrorist attack on January 1, 2011 in Alexandria

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The terrorist attack on January 1, 2011 in Alexandria is a terrorist attack in front of the al-Qiddissine Church in Alexandria , Egypt , which took place at 12:20 am local time. At least 23 people died in the attack and a further 97 people were injured.

course

Against 12:20 local time it came before the Al-Qiddissine Church in Alexandria to an explosion of a car bomb, as about 1,000 supporters of the Christian minority of the Copts left the New Year's service. The explosive device contained around 100 kilograms of explosives. Immediately after the explosion, 21 people were killed and a further 97 people injured, including at least eight Muslims. In addition, a neighboring mosque was partially damaged. On January 4, two more people died from injuries sustained in the attack. This brings the number of deaths to 23 people.

Perpetrator

According to the Egyptian authorities, it was very likely a suicide bombing. However, shortly after the attack, an explosives expert told the police that the explosion was probably not caused by a suicide bomber . The bomb was hidden in front of the church in a green car that had been described by several eyewitnesses. In eyewitness reports, a man appears again and again who was standing next to the car shortly before the explosion and was talking on the cell phone. On January 4, security circles in Cairo announced that the head of an Asian-looking man had been found who was most likely the attacker.

The Saudi television channel al-Arabiya announced on February 7, 2011 that the Egyptian attorney general had opened an investigation into the Egyptian interior minister, Habib el-Adly , who was ousted on January 28, on suspicion of being the mastermind behind the terrorist attack. On March 5, 2011, al-Arabiya reported that Habib al-Adli had set up a unit in 2004 to carry out false flag operations . About this unit it is said that they u. a. allegedly also involved in this terrorist attack. Leaked documents from the British secret service are named as the source .

consequences

Immediately after the terrorist attack, there were attacks between Copts and Muslims who were present. The police then dispersed the crowd with tear gas. In addition, a neighboring mosque was attacked by Copts who were present. On the afternoon of January 1, numerous Copts gathered again and threw bottles and stones at the security forces. In the days that followed, thousands of Copts and Muslims kept gathering for joint demonstrations against terrorism. The governor of Alexandria, Adel Labib , suspected Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad ar-Rafidain , the Iraqi branch of the terrorist organization al-Qaida , to be behind the attack. He had previously threatened the Coptic Christians with attacks on their churches during the Coptic Christmas festival (7 January) via a terrorist website. The Alexandria Church was also on a list of targets to attack. In addition, an attack on the Sayidat al-Nejat Cathedral in Baghdad was carried out in 2010 , in which the Iraqi al-Qaida branch is also suspected of being the author.

Reactions

Egypt's former President Hosni Mubarak condemned the attack in an initial reaction and called on Christians and Muslims to unite in the “common fight against terrorism”. He also expressed the assumption that “foreign forces” were responsible for the attack.

Pope Benedict XVI At his New Year's Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, he renewed the call he had repeatedly made to the governments of countries with Christian minorities, especially after many worldwide attacks on Christians in 2010, to better protect them from religiously motivated acts of violence.

The Coptic Archbishop Arweis accused the government of not having adequately protected the Coptic minority because, despite the targeted threat from al Qaeda against the attacked church and the fact that over 1000 people were in the church at the time of the attack, only three Soldiers and a police officer were on site to protect the Copts.

The European Union strongly condemned the attack and warned that the right of Christians to religious freedom in Egypt must be protected.

The Coordination Council of Muslims in Germany took the following position on the attack: We condemn this terrible and inhuman attack in the strongest possible terms. Anyone who harms and murders people in such a devious and cruel manner cannot invoke any religion or other worldview. The spokesman Erol Pürlü said according to a message published in Cologne : The Koran calls for the protection of life and the protection of places of worship.

In the Netherlands , Muslims offered solidarity and protection by guarding the Coptic churches in Amsterdam , Eindhoven and Utrecht . "The Coptic Christians, ourselves and all Dutch people have a common enemy: terrorism," declared three Muslim associations.

Meanwhile, Christian protests continued. Many Muslims also took part in demonstrations, including at the Islamic al-Azhar University in Cairo, where Muslims shouted: “I am a Muslim, and I reject this” and “We say no to those who set Egypt on fire want " .

Ali Gomaa , the Grand Mufti of Egypt , addressed the German public in a guest article in the Berlin Tagesspiegel and declared that "Islam is absolutely against extremism and terrorism" and that it is necessary to understand the "factors" that "the Deliver the rationalization of terrorism and extremism "because otherwise one would never be able to" remove this scourge from the world ".

backgrounds

The Egyptian journalist Mary Abdelmassih , who is close to the Egyptian Copts, sees the official interpretation of a suicide bomber as a lone perpetrator as an attempt by the Egyptian interior minister to distract from his own failure and possibly also to disguise the fact that sympathizers and possibly also the perpetrators come from his environment. The reason for this assumption is that it was one day before the attack, i.e. H. on December 31, in Alexandria against the Coptic Church and its Pope Schenuda III. directed demonstration of Salafist Muslims who campaigned for the "release" of the two women priests Wafaa Constatine and Camilia Shehata . Al-Qaeda affiliated groups claim that these two women converted to Islam and that they are being held in monasteries by the Coptic Church against their will. From this they derived a "right" to attack Coptic worship services.

In Egypt there are repeated attacks on the Coptic minority. For example, during the Coptic Christmas festival the year before, six Copts and a Muslim policeman were shot in front of a church in Nag Hammadi .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ tagesschau.de on January 1, 2011 in: The assassin waited in front of the church ( Memento from January 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ spiegel.de on January 4th, 2011 in: Police find head of alleged assassin
  3. ^ Abendblatt.de on January 1, 2011 in: 22 dead in suicide bombing in Alexandria
  4. ↑ Islamische Zeitung on January 4, 2011 in: Police in Egypt cannot find a suicide bomber
  5. ↑ a b tageblatt.lu on January 4, 2011 in: Alexandria assassin identified ( Memento from December 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ^ Al-Arabiya February 7, 2011: Ex-minister suspected behind Alex church bombing ( Memento from January 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ^ Mubarak Regime 'Provoked' Attacks on Christians
  8. ↑ welt.de on January 1, 2011 in: Egypt: Riots after attack on Christian church
  9. ↑ guardian.co.uk on January 1, 2011 in: Egypt bomb kills new year churchgoers
  10. ↑ yahoo.com on January 1, 2011 in: Suspected suicide bomber kills 21 at Egypt church ( Memento from January 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Mubarak blames 'foreign hands' for church bomb , CBC News of January 1, 2011
  12. ↑ Pope calls for more protection for Christians ( Memento from January 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), tagesschau.de from January 1, 2011
  13. ↑ bbc.co.uk on January 1, 2011 in: Suspected suicide bomber kills 21 at Egypt church
  14. ↑ tagesschau.de on January 1, 2011 in attack in Egypt
  15. ↑ January 1, 2011 Cairo: German Muslims condemn attack in Alexandria as "Inhuman" , Islamische Zeitung
  16. ↑ Muslims want to guard Coptic churches , welt.de of January 4, 2011, accessed on January 4, 2011.
  17. ↑ Guest commentary: Islam is against terror and extremism in the Berliner Tagesspiegel from January 5, 2011
  18. ↑ aina.org on January 2, 2011 in: Egyptian Security Guards Withdrew One Hour Before Church Blast, Say Eyewitnesses
  19. ↑ Islamische Zeitung on January 4, 2011 in: Police in Egypt cannot find a suicide bomber

Coordinates: 31 ° 15 ′ 47.9 ″  N , 29 ° 59 ′ 30.9 ″  E