Ikhwanweb :: The Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website

Seven people are being held for questioning over the New Year's bombing of a church in the city of Alexandria, while 10 others have been released, according to officials.

Investigators currently examining lists of airline passengers who arrived recently in Egypt from Iraq, described the explosives used as made locally. 

Diaa Rashwan, Deputy Director of the Al-Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies, believes the preliminary indication is that the attack does bear many hallmarks and styles of Iraqi al-Qaeda attacks.

Reported body autopsies reveal that the bomb used during the attack was made of nails and other solid matter, showing that the bomb was locally-made in a primitive fashion.

Eyewitnesses and victims injured in the attack cite that the main suspect was about 1.80 meters tall, had a fair complexion, was clean-shaven, wearing eye glasses, and dressed in a blue jacket and a light-coloured shirt. A security officer at the church confirmed he noticed a Skoda car with three people inside taking a long time to park at a largely empty space at the opposite side of the church adding that two of the individuals left the car while the driver stayed in the car for a long time.

In the meantime, Egypt’s Traffic Department has opened a probe on 13 cars that were reportedly parked near the site of the explosion.