Muslims Offer Condolences For Massacre By Radicals

Muslim women in black robes moved from house to house in this tiny village Saturday, offering condolences to Christians and Muslims whose loved ones were gunned down, apparently by Islamic militants.

Neighborhoods are separated by religion here, but residents say there hasn’t been trouble between Christians and Muslims - nothing that would explain why attackers slaughtered 13 people Thursday.

“We are all saddened by what happened on Thursday and we don’t understand why it happened to us,” said Gaber Hamad, 27, a Muslim, “Until Thursday, we were free of all terrorist attacks.”

Newspapers reported Saturday that two of the assailants were Muslim radicals wanted in connection with past attacks.

The attackers opened fire at people walking along the narrow dirt road outside the neighboring town of Bahgoura, 300 miles south of Cairo. Later, they attacked people inside buildings in Ezbet Dawoud, about 1-1/2 miles away.

Nine of the 13 dead were Coptic Christians.

Police said the gunmen then fired on a train 12 miles south of the village, killing another woman and wounding six people. The opposition daily Al-Wafd said Saturday the slain woman had been pregnant.

The gunmen fled into sugar cane fields, but the government daily AlAhram reported villagers identified two attackers as Ali Attiya and Mahmoud el-Farshouty, both wanted in connection with past attacks by Muslim radicals. Another wanted militant, Anwar Hamed, helped plan the assault, it said.