(JTA) — Egyptian police arrested a suspect in the attack on Cairo’s central synagogue.
Gamal Hussein Ahmed, 49, a tailor and a known drug addict, was arrested early Tuesday morning while on his way to the American Embassy to seek political asylum, Egyptian police told news agencies.
Ahmed told investigators that he committed the crime because he was "angry at what is taking place in the Palestinian territories," Ynet reported.
On Sunday, a man who police believe was Ahmed threw a suitcase containing gasoline and an igniter at the Shaar Hashamayim synagogue. The bomb exploded on the sidewalk outside the synagogue but no one was injured and the synagogue was undamaged, Reuters reported.
The attacker, who reportedly had checked into a hotel across the street from the synagogue, fled the scene.
The Shaar Hashamayim synagogue is the only one in Egypt that still holds services, though just on Jewish holidays. It was built in 1899.
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