In the early morning of April 14, 2006, Mahmoud Salah al-Din Abd al-Raziq, a Muslim, entered the church of Mar Girgis (Saint George) in Alexandria’s al-Hadra district and stabbed three parishioners who had gathered for a service. Abd al-Raziq then proceeded to attack worshippers at two other churches, according to police accounts, before being arrested en route to a fourth. Nushi Atta Girgis, 78, died from his stab wounds, while several others were injured, some severely.
For background on “the Coptic question,” see Vickie Langohr, “Frosty Reception for US Religious Freedom Commission in Egypt,” Middle East Report Online, March 29, 2001.
For background on Egypt’s tumultuous 2005, see Issandr El Amrani, “Controlled Reform in Egypt: Neither Reformist nor Controlled,” Middle East Report Online, December 15, 2005.
Also see Mona El-Ghobashy, “Egypt’s Paradoxical Elections,” in Middle East Report 238 (Spring 2006).