Interior Minister Maj. General Muhammad Ibrāhīm said a plan was hammered out in coordination with the armed forces to secure all churches nationwide during the Coptic Christmas celebrations.

“The plan, more like the one operated to secure the People’s Assembly (parliament) elections, envisages the circle of suspicion in order to preserve security and order,” said Ibrāhīm, said a large number of policemen will be deployed at gates of all churches and the roads leading to them.

The interior minister welcomed Salafīs, Muslim Brotherhood members and January 25 Revolution youths who would like to volunteer to contribute to the security plan but this “has to be under the security agencies’ umbrella”. [Jamāl Hassan, al-Akhbār, Jan. 6, p. 3]