CNN.com
Al Qaeda-linked group attacked church in Egypt, authorities say
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* NEW: It's not clear whether anyone has been arrested
* 23 people died in the attack on a Coptic church in Alexandria on January 1
* There has been a series of attacks on Egyptian Christians
Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- The Palestinian Islamic Army, which has links to al
Qaeda, carried out the New Year's Day attack on a Christian church in
Alexandria, Egypt, that left almost two dozen people dead, Interior Minister
Habib al-Adly said Sunday.
It was not immediately clear what evidence he had or whether anyone had been
arrested.
Egyptian authorities earlier this month released a sketch of a man they think
is responsible for the attack.
"The man in the picture is unknown and authorities are trying to confirm his
identity," Col. Alla Mahmoud of the Interior Ministry said at the time.
The Interior Ministry used forensic technology to re-create the face of the
suspected suicide bomber.
Some Muslims attended Christmas services in solidarity with Coptic Christians
after the bombing, and demonstrators marched in support of them at Egypt's
prestigious Al-Azhar University.
The bombing of the Coptic Church of the Two Saints killed 23 people -- the
deadliest attack on Christians in majority-Muslim Egypt in some time, but far
from the only one.
Ten days later, a gunman killed a Christian man and wounded five other
Christians on a train in Egypt. One of the victims said the gunman opened fire
after yelling in Arabic, "There is no God but God."
The suspect was later identified as a deputy policeman.
And last week, a man was sentenced for his part in an attack on another Coptic
church a year ago, Egypt's state-run Al Ahram newspaper reported January 16.
Mohamed El-Kamouny, one of three people accused in the targeted killing of
members of the Coptic Christian sect after a Christmas mass, is the first to be
sentenced.
Seven people were killed -- six Copts and a Muslim guard -- in the January 2010
incident outside a church in the southern town of Naga Hammadi. Coptics observe
Christmas Day on January 7.
The judge who sentenced El-Kamouny postponed the sentencing of the other two
defendants until next month, Al Ahram reported.
About 9% of Egypt's 80 million residents are Coptic Christians.
They base their theology on the teachings of the Apostle Mark, who introduced
Christianity to Egypt, according to St. Takla Church in Alexandria, the capital
of Coptic Christianity.
The religion split with other Christians in the fifth century over the
definition of the divinity of Jesus Christ.
CNN's Housam Ahmed contributed to this report.
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