Egypt's Anxious Copts 'Await Next Catastrophe'

January 25, 2010

Author: Yolande Knell

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8478397.stm

Worshippers arriving for mass at St Mary's Church in central Cairo say they were shocked but not surprised by a deadly attack against Coptic Christians in southern Egypt earlier this month.

"Copts have been suffering for a long time," comments Magda accompanying her teenage son to the service.

"There have been a lot of tensions between Christians and Muslims, particularly in Upper Egypt, and a lot of attacks." 

"What happened in Naga Hamady has opened the situation up to the outside world."

Six Copts were killed in a drive-by shooting in the busy town, 60 km (37 miles) from Luxor, after they left a late-night mass on 6 January, the eve of the Coptic Orthodox Christmas. A Muslim policeman was also killed.