4 Killed, 16 Injured by Car Bomb in Cairo

A car bomb sprayed glass and nail-size shards over a downtown district Friday, killing four people and injuring 16 in an attack suspected to be the work of Islamic extremists.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, but it was almost certainly carried out by extremists seeking to replace Egypt’s secular government with an Iranian-style theocracy. Militants have targeted police officers, Coptic Christians and foreign tourists.

The blast marked the fifth terror attack since December in the heart of the Egyptian capital. But it was the first time a car bomb has been used in more than a year of violence between Muslim militants and security forces.

An Interior Ministry statement said the explosion damaged two cars parked near the one containing the bomb. A deep hole was blown in the pavement, and some offices of the government’s records department were damaged.

The state-owned Middle East News Agency quoted police as saying they were questioning the owner of the car and a second man, arrested at the scene, about possible links with extremists.

The area where the explosion occurred is near the headquarters of two of Egypt’s main daily newspapers and Cairo’s main railway station, but the street was quieter than usual as Friday is the Muslim weekend.

Most of the victims were waiting for transportation at a nearby bus stop. Blood and glass covered the street.

Two men, a woman and a 15-year-old girl were killed.

Doctors said eight or more victims were in critical condition. A 5-year-old boy was among many suffering brain injuries, they said.

Earlier Friday, suspected Muslim militants shot and killed a policeman who had served three years in jail for killing a member of their organization, security sources said.

They said the policeman was attacked walking home from his post in the village of Beni Samii, 215 miles south of Cairo, to a neighboring village.

The man had been jailed in 1987 after he shot and killed a member of Gamaa al Islamiya (Islamic Group) who was putting posters on a wall. He was convicted of using excessive force but returned to police duty after serving his sentence, the sources said.