Cairo: Egyptian authorities on Saturday blamed "foreign terrorists" for a car bombing outside a church in the coastal city of Alexandria on Friday night, which killed 21 people.
"We will cut off the hand of terrorism," President Hosni Mubarak said in a televised address on Saturday. "You make a grave mistake if you think you are away from Egyptians' revenge. This terrorist operation carries foreign fingerprints, which want to turn Egypt into an arena for terrorism."
Around 21 worshippers were killed just after Friday midnight when a car outside the Saints Church in Alexandria, Egypt's second-biggest city, exploded. Forty-three others, including eight Muslims, were injured in the blast.
An eyewitness told Egyptian official television that the car, which exploded outside the church, carried a sticker reading "More to follow". "Foreign agents are behind this attack," said Christian MP Nabil Luqa.
Wide condemnation
"There is an agenda prompted by foreign powers to destabilise Egypt," he told Gulf News. Luqa urged the Coptic Church to intervene and mollify angry Christians who clashed with police in Alexandria and attacked a mosque in the wake of the blast.
Condemnation poured in after the attack from many spheres including Al Azhar, the Muslim Brotherhood, European and Arab countries and Pope Benedict XVI.
The Pope urged world leaders to defend Christians against abuse and intolerance, while Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fuad Twal called on Christians to show courage in the face of the attack.
"This latest massacre must lead us to reflect on our vocation as Christians in this region," said Tual, the highest Roman Catholic prelate in the Holy Land. A top Shiite Muslim leader in Lebanon, Shaikh Abdul Amir Kabalan, described the attack as a "terrorist act aimed at sowing chaos and fear in Egypt".
France led European nations in denouncing the attack.
"France expresses its support for the Egyptian authorities in their fight against terrorism," deputy Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Christine Fages said.
