Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday denounced the taking of hostages in a church in central Baghdad on Sunday that claimed 52 lives and injured 100.
The hostage takeover and subsequent security raid took place at a mass at the Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad's al-Karrada neighborhood. Most of the killings followed the rescue attempt.
Mubarak offered his condolences to the victims' families in a telegram to Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani. The Egyptian head of state also expressed his country's solidarity with the Iraqi people in the face of such attacks.
Egyptian government and church officials on Monday condemned warnings given by the militant group responsible for the incident–Al-Qaeda affiliate The State of Iraq–which demanded that Egypt's Coptic Christians release female Muslim converts held captive in Egypt.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
