Egypt’s president will inaugurate the country’s biggest cathedral on Coptic Christmas Eve Sunday, a day after a deadly bomb blast near a church in a country where jihadists have repeatedly targeted Christians. Coptic Christians, who account for around 10 percent of Egypt’s population, have been hit by a string of attacks by the Islamic State group in recent years. On Sunday evening President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was due to inaugurate the Cathedral of Nativity in Egypt’s new administrative capital, 45 kilometers (28 miles) east of Cairo. On Sunday Sisi will join the Coptic pope, Tawadros II, in the cathedral which is touted as the largest in the Middle East. The president will also inaugurate on Sunday Al-Fattah al-Alim mosque in the new administrative capital.

Source: Egypt Independent January 06, 2019 14:03 UTC