Suspect in bombing had run-in with cops

Associated Press

CAIRO

The young man suspected of blowing himself up inside a Cairo chapel during Sunday Mass, killing at least 25 people, had been arrested and beaten by police two years ago after purportedly taking part in an Islamist demonstration, his lawyer said Monday.

If independently confirmed, Mahmoud Shafiq Mohammed Mustafa would be the latest Egyptian to be radicalized after being subjected to police abuse, a practice that was common for decades and has become rampant after a crackdown on dissent following the military’s 2013 ouster of an Islamist president.

Speaking after a state funeral for the victims, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said the suspect detonated a belt of explosives inside a chapel adjacent to St. Mark’s Cathedral, seat of Egypt’s ancient Coptic Orthodox Church. The more-than-100-year-old chapel was packed with worshippers.

The dead included more than 20 women and children. Forty-nine others were injured, according to the latest figures from the Health Ministry.

Mahmoud Hassan, one of Musafa’s lawyers, said his client, who was 16 at the time of his arrest, was tortured until he confessed to the possession of weapons and explosions.

He also faced charges of membership in an “illegal organization,” Egyptian parlance for the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group of which former President Mohammed Morsi was a senior official.