20110125
Xinhua
CAIRO, Jan.25 (Xinhua)-- Egyptian Interior Minister Habib el- Adly said Egypt has arrested 19 suspects related to terrorist groups to undertake attacks against religious institutes in the country.

In an interview with the state owned newspaper Al Ahram published on Tuesday, Adly said that weapons, ammunition and documents were confiscated with the suspects.

These suspects were recruited by foreign agents to carry out suicide bombing attacks, he said, adding a terrorist plot involving planned attacks against places of worship in several governorates was thwarted ahead of the terrorist attack that targeted al-Qiddissin church in Alexandria.

Adly rejected the idea that there might be al-Qaida cells in Egypt or on the borders with Gaza, saying there are attempts to field elements who were trained abroad or recruited via internet, but neither al-Qaida nor any terrorist cells have any presence in Egypt.

Egyptian security sources said on Sunday that they have arrested Ahmad Lotfi Ibrahim, an Egyptian man suspected of helping terrorists with the church attack in Alexandria.

Adly reaffirmed that Ibrahim, arrested abroad and extradited to Egypt, has admitted he was directly linked to the Army of Islam based in the Gaza Strip.

The Egyptian government blamed the Army of Islam for the suicide bombing of the al-Qiddissin church in Alexandria that killed more than 21 people on New Year's Eve, the deadliest attack against Christians in Egypt in more than a decade.

However, the Gaza-based Army of Islam group on Sunday denied Egypt's accusation.