Egypt: Terror alert on Coptic Christmas

(Getty Images)

Police put up a security cordon around the main Coptic cathedral in Cairo yesterday, hours before their Christmas Eve Mass, using bomb-sniffing dogs, metal detectors and officers to try to prevent another attack like the New Year's suicide bombing of a church that killed 21 people.

Al-Qa'ida threatened Christians in Iraq and Egypt in the weeks before the holidays. Coptic Christians, who make up 10 per cent of the 80 million population, celebrate Christmas today.