coptic easter Tight security and grief have cast a shadow on Easter Mass services for Egypt’s Coptic Christians just days after 45 people died in twin church bombings. The militant “Islamic State” group claimed the Palm Sunday blasts.

Members of Egypt’s Christian minority observed traditional Easter services across the country on Saturday following twin blasts last Sunday that killed 45 people.

Several security agents could be seen surrounding Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II as he entered St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo, where he led the mass. Worshipers passed through three metal detectors outside St. Mark’s Cathedral while soldiers and policemen stood guard outside.

Last Sunday, two suicide bombers struck a Coptic cathedral in Alexandria and a church in Tanta during Palm Sunday services, wounding over 100 people and killing dozens. Coptic Pope Tawadros had been leading the mass at the cathedral in Alexandria at the time of the blast, but was not injured.

Rafiq Bishry, head of the organizational committee for St. Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria, told Reuters Television that he was surprised that so many people had come to the services despite the security risks.

“This is a clear message to the whole world that we are not afraid,” he told Reuters.

The militant “Islamic State” group claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks, vowing in an earlier statement to continue targeting the country’s Coptic Christian community.

Celebrations cancelled

Egypt’s Interior Ministry announced that there would be heightened security measures on Saturday, creating 400 meter security cordons around churches. Bomb squads also scanned churches around the country on Saturday, an official told the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

After the attacks last Sunday, the Egyptian government introduced a three-month state of emergency, giving it sweeping powers to act against what it determines to be enemies of the state.

During his Good Friday sermon, Pope Tawadros announced that the celebratory aspects of Easter would be cancelled this year since mourning for the victims of the church bombings was ongoing.

In Egypt, Coptic Christians break a 55-day fast that includes abstaining from all animal products following Saturday’s mass.

The Coptic Church is one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East, and its members make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population. Although Copts have lived alongside Egypt’s Muslim majority for centuries, in recent years Christian churches have repeatedly been targeted by sectarian violence.

rs/bw (AP, AFP, Reuters)

Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL-10)

(The Hill)— The time has come for Azerbaijan to face consequences from the United States and the international community for its blatant military aggression against the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).

After years of saber rattling, Azerbaijan’s four-day assault on the NKR earlier this month is its most egregious attack since it signed a cease-fire agreement with Armenia and the NKR in 1994. These recent military actions indicate the clear need for new measures to modify a cease-fire framework that is not working.

With no system to referee the cease-fire, Azerbaijan has become increasingly belligerent while facing no consequences for its violations. This must change.

I strongly support a congressional response, spearheaded by Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and ranking member Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which offers three pro-peace measures to bring needed oversight to a cease-fire that has been precariously self-regulated by Armenian and Azerbaijani forces for more than two decades.

First, all sides should agree not to deploy snipers along the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact.

Second, advanced gunfire locator systems and sound ranging equipment, monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), should be installed along the line of contact to verify the source of any attacks.

And third, additional OSCE observers should be deployed along the line of contact to more effectively monitor cease-fire violations. There are only six OSCE observers monitoring the conflict zone — woefully insufficient given the number of cease-fire violations each day.

More than 80 members of the House of Representatives have signed the bipartisan Royce-Engel proposals, which have also been supported by the U.S. State Department and the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group.

In order for a lasting peace to be established, there must be goodwill and trust on both sides. But, while both Armenia and the NKR have affirmed their support for these peace-building measures, Azerbaijan has not. In truth, the lack of oversight on the current cease-fire framework provides useful cover for Azerbaijan’s belligerence.

U.S leadership is needed now to stop the bloody pattern in which Azerbaijan attacks the NKR, the NKR responds, and then Azerbaijan blames the Armenians for violating the cease-fire. We should no longer accept Baku’s flagrant duplicity.

I call upon the administration to raise the Royce-Engel proposals to the highest levels of the Azerbaijani government.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has faced a chorus of international criticism for human rights abuses, such as the wrongful imprisonment of Radio Free Europe journalist Khadija Ismayilova and some 20 others who have been prosecuted on politically motivated charges, according to Human Rights Watch.

Just as the international community has come together to hold the Baku government responsible for its transgressions against civil society in Azerbaijan, so too should we call it to account for its treatment of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The OSCE’s Minsk Process, which started in 1995 to bring the parties of the conflict to a peaceful and comprehensive settlement, is hanging on by a thread. If diplomacy is to endure, there must be a verifiable cease-fire in place.

The onus is on Azerbaijan to demonstrate to the U.S. and the international community that it truly wants to be a partner in peace with Armenia and the NKR. Baku must fully commit to the Royce-Engel proposals.

The choice for President Aliyev is clear: Either he subscribes to diplomatic negotiations with the Armenians under peaceful circumstances or continues with a belligerent and futile policy of attrition.

If he chooses the latter, he should know that every act of Azerbaijani aggression will only further validate the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s argument that it go the way of Kosovo. As a veteran of the Kosovo War, I truly hope Azerbaijan realizes that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should only be resolved through peaceful means.

Kirk has represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate since 2010 and was previously a five-term U.S. representative from the northern Chicago suburbs.

Egypt’s Coptic Christians, celebrate Easter Mass under increased security

Sen. Mark Kirk: U.S. Should Hold Azerbaijan Accountable