[Al Arabiya] Egypt's Coptic Pope Shenouda III said Wednesday that recent threats by al-Qaeda to attack Copts served to strengthen national unity, while an Islamist movements expert found terrorist attacks on Egyptian churches unlikely. In the sermon he delivered on Wednesday night in the St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo, Pope Shenouda III described threats by Iraq's al-Qaeda to target Egyptian Christians as a curse as well as a blessing since they unified the people of Egypt, Mohammedans and Christians, as they all declared their support for the Coptic church.
The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), an Iraqi group linked to al-Qaeda, grabbed credit for the attack on Storied Baghdad's Our Lady of Salvation Church which, they alleged, was in retaliation for the detention by the Coptic Church of two Egyptian women, Camilia Shehata and Wafa Constantine, who reportedly converted to Islam.
After a deadline to release the two women expired, the ISI declared all Egypt's Christians legitimate targets and threatened to carry out similar attacks inside Egypt.
In its latest statement, the ISI called upon Christians to exercise pressure on the Coptic Church to release Shehata and Constantine and warned that they will not be saved from death unless they declare their innocence of the church's actions.
In the one-hour long sermon, the pope talked about the threats for only five minutes and preferred to call them "warnings" while refraining from mentioning the name "al-Qaeda."
Expert on Islamist movements Hassan Abu Haniya said it is unlikely that al-Qaeda carries out in Egypt attacks similar to that of the Baghdad church.
"Al-Qaeda is not active in Egypt," he told Al Arabiya.net. "The only exception is a very limited presence in some parts of the Sinai Peninsula and they are not popular with Egyptians anyway."
| Also in the Gaza Strip, where they occasionally annoy their Hamas rulers. |
"Al-Qaeda has forcefully re-organized its ranks in Iraq and the same happened in Yemen and the Arab Maghreb, but not in Egypt."
The recent threat by ISI to target Egyptian Christians, Abu Haniya added, aims at showing the world that the group is following regional and international issues and is not just confined to Iraqi affairs.
"The group also wants to gain popularity in Egypt by supporting the cause of Camilia Shehata and Wafa Constantine," he concluded.
Camilia Shehata and Wafa Constantine, both wives of Coptic priests, are said to be currently imprisoned in monasteries Coptic Church after having voluntarily converted to Islam.
The cases of the two women triggered massive protests by followers of both religions across Egypt with Christians claiming the two women were either forcefully converted or have never converted in the first place and Muslims calling for their release and accusing security forces of handing them to the church.
Although the case of Constantine dates back to 2004 while the controversy about Shehata started in July of this year, both incidents are seen as threatening to the already volatile sectarian situation in Egypt.