EGYPT'S Christians and Muslims are naturally both deeply sorry and angry about the cowardly terrorist attack on a church in Alexandria on New Year's Eve. The whole nation must be feeling very sad, not just for the innocent victims who lost their lives or were seriously injured, but also because of the major threat to the nation's unity, that could lead to chaos and even sectarian sedition. Experts affirm that the explosion, which appeared designed to maximise civilian casualties, bore the hallmark of al-Qaeda terrorists. Besides, President Hosni Mubarak, in commenting on the attack, accused unnamed foreign elements of being behind the attack. So why weren't the security agencies ready for such a highly expected assault on a church during the celebrations for the Christian New Year? Even without threats from al-Qaeda, following last year's shooting that targeted a crowd of churchgoers as they left a Coptic Orthodox church after Midnight Mass in the southern city of Naga Hammadi, the Ministry of Interior should have upped its security measures around churches, especially at this time of year. It was only after the bombing in Alexandria that hundreds of security personnel were driven to the street where the church is located, in order to disperse angry Copts demonstrating against the attack, according to eyewitnesses. With the return of terrorism to the country, Egyptians need to do more than just condemn such acts and deny that they have nothing in common with any religious teachings. Citizens should do more to head off these crimes and co-operate more with the security agencies to stop them happening. The biggest lesson the Americans and Europeans have learned from the 9/11 incidents is to keep their eyes open and warn the authorities of any suspicious movements of persons or vehicles that could precede a terrorist operation. This policy has allowed tens of terrorist operations to be nipped in the bud.
