Gunmen kill 7 at Egypt church
Pastor Dale Morgan
Gunmen kill 7 at Egypt church *
By SARAH El DEEB
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 6, 2010; 8:27 PM
CAIRO -- Gunmen killed at least seven people in a drive-by shooting
outside a church in southern Egypt as worshippers left a midnight Mass
for Coptic Christmas Thursday, the church bishop, security and hospital
officials said.
The attack took place in the early morning hours in the town of Nag
Hamadi in Qena province, about 40 miles from the famous ancient ruins of
Luxor.
Bishop Kirollos of the Nag Hamadi Diocese, a hospital administrator and
a local security official all said seven people were killed in the
attack. The security official said three people were seriously wounded
as well.
The security official said two gunmen drove by a group as they were
walking out of the Virgin Mary church and sprayed gunfire randomly into
the crowd. The security and hospital officials spoke on condition of
anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Qena is one of Egypt's poorest and most conservative areas.
Christians, mostly Coptic, account for about 10 percent of Egypt's
predominantly Muslim population.
Muslim-Christian clashes, largely confined to the south of the country
in recent years, have seeped into the capital. As Islamic conservatism
gains ground, Christians have increasingly complained about
discrimination by the Muslim majority.
In summer 2008 in southern Egypt, a Muslim man was killed in clashes
over the expansion of a Coptic Orthodox monastery, and Muslims torched
Christian villagers' homes because a priest was seen holding Mass inside
a house, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a
rights group.