Bahrain Mirror: Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in which it responded to that addressed to Cairo by the Gulf Cooperation council over the church bombing, which left 26 people dead.

The statement issued by the ministry on Friday, December 16, said ""We hoped that the GCC secretary-general's stance would reflect an accurate reading of the Egyptian stance as the only official statement issued by the [Egyptian] interior ministry about the attack included verified and accurate information about the terrorist involved in the attack, and his recent moves outside Egypt," the statement added.

The ministry stressed that "the competent Egyptian authorities continue to collect all the information about the crime," adding that "it will announce everything once the investigations are concluded."

The statement insisted that the relations between Egypt and other Arab countries should stay strong and immune, and not to be exposed to shocks or suspicions due to inaccurate reading of the situations.

The foreign ministry's statement came in response to a statement by the GCC Secretary-General Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al-Zayani on Thursday in which he expressed the GCC's displeasure for inserting the name of Qatar in the church's bombing, describing the act as "rejected".

Al-Zayani warned against "haste in releasing accusatory statements, which could negatively affect the close ties between the GCC and Egypt".

On Monday, Egyptian Ministry of Interior accused the Muslim Brotherhood organization residing in Qatar of involvement in Sunday's bombing of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Cairo, which left 26 dead and more than 40 injured.

Arabic Version