African News Agency : Welcome

Cairo - The Egyptian military forces foiled a bid to explode "Rafah church" in north Sinai, as the country's Coptic Christians began celebrating their Christmas today. A patrol of the armed forces discovered a number of masked men in two cars without plates behind the church in Safa district, the army said Monday in a statement on its official website. The statement added that the forces found four bags of TNT, two automatic weapons, 50 pieces of ammunition, and a RBJ missile. This year's Christmas is the first religious festival for the Copts under the new head of Egyptian Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros. The Copts, who represent around 10 percent of the 90 million Egyptian population, celebrated Christmas with the presence of high-ranking officials of different religious beliefs, including Prime Minister Hesham Qandil and leaders of the opposition parties. (ANA)