Police have found a decapitated head bearing Pakistani or Afghani features among the debris of a church in Alexandria that was bombed on New year’s Eve, according to security sources.
Police say the head may have belonged to the perpetrator of the attack, which killed 22 Coptic Christians and injured scores of others.
Neither victims' relatives nor local residents were able to identify the head, which police have referred to forensic examination. Police also reportedly brought in a make-up artist to treat injuries on the face to help them ascertain the man's identity.
The same sources also noted that police had arrested a second suspect injured in the blast who was identified by eyewitnesses.
They added that three different Egyptian intelligence agencies, in addition to state security prosecutors, were currently investigating the incident. Testimony has already been taken from church guards and the owners of automobiles damaged in the blast.
Security measures at the country's airports and seaports, meanwhile, have been stepped up in the wake of the bombing.
The security sources posited two possible scenarios: that the suicide bomber had been standing next to a green car parked outside the church when he detonated himself; or that he had pushed himself into the crowd that was leaving the church at the time of the blast.
Forensic investigators have apparently ruled out the possibility that a car bomb was used in the attack, as had been postulated earlier.
The security sources expressed certainty that "foreign parties" were responsible for the incident, especially given recent alleged threats by al-Qaeda in Iraq to target Egypt's Coptic Christians. The sources added, however, that police were still considering all possibilities.
Meanwhile, the security presence in the streets of the capital has been noticeably bolstered, especially near places of worship. Police have also reportedly been instructed to "show restraint" when dealing with angry Coptic Christian protesters.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
