Egypt blames Palestinian Qaeda-linked group for bomb

CAIRO, (Reuters) – Egypt’s interior minister said today the government had proof that the Army of Islam, a  Palestinian group linked to al Qaeda, was behind the New Year’s  Day bombing of a church that killed 23 people.
The Army of Islam praised the attack but denied involvement.
Egyptian officials had suspected an al Qaeda-inspired bomber  was behind the blast that ripped through a crowd outside the  church in the city of Alexandria, prompting protests by  Christians that the state had not done enough to protect them.
An Iraq-based al Qaeda group had called for attacks on  Egypt’s Coptic Christians, who make up one tenth of the  population, before the church bombing.
“If elements of the Palestinian Army of Islam, linked to al  Qaeda, thought they had hidden behind elements that were  recruited, we have decisive proof of their heinous involvement  in planning and carrying out such a villainous terrorist act,”  Interior Minister Habib el-Adli said in a speech.
The bomber died in the blast, which wounded 97 people.
Egyptian state security had pointed to possible foreign  involvement and officials said they were investigating several  Palestinians who were perceived as possible threats.
A spokesman for the Army of Islam, which considers  al-Qaeda’s leaders as spiritual mentors, told Reuters in Gaza  that the group “has no connection to the church attack in Egypt,  though we praise those who did it”.
President Hosni Mubarak, in an address broadcast on state  TV, praised the police for their efforts to identify those  responsible and said the attackers had sought to sow discord  between Egyptian Copts and Muslims.
Sectarian tensions often flare over issues such as building  churches or romantic relationships between members of both  religions.
“We will not allow terrorism to shake our stability and  horrify our people or attack the unity of Muslims and Copts,”  Mubarak said. “Egypt’s security and stability are targeted.”
The Army of Islam played a part in a cross-border attack in  2006 in the Gaza Strip in which Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was  abducted. The group later cut relations with Hamas, the Islamist  group which controls Gaza, and has clashed with it.