Muslim Brotherhood denounces Egypt church bombings, blames Sisi regime

The Egyptian regime had a hand in the twin church bombings that killed dozens on Palm Sunday, the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood has said.

The Islamist group accused Egyptian authorities on Sunday of complicity in the deadly bomb attacks in the Nile Delta cities of Tanta and Alexandria, which killed at least 44 people.

"Fascist regimes have taken a unified approach in their struggle to ensure their survival by creating an imaginary enemy called terrorism to cover up their failure and garner the sympathy of ordinary people," the banned group said in a statement.

"We accuse the...regime of orchestrating or facilitating the two incidents," it said.

"The Muslim Brotherhood condemns this painful incident and professes its innocence of the innocent blood that has been spilt," the statement added.

Qatar-based prominent Muslim theologian Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who is close to the Brotherhood, also denounced the Palm Sunday attacks.

"We condemn all attacks on peaceful souls and confirm that these crimes are inconsistent with religious laws, ethics and customs. Those who have done this will face great torment," Qaradawi tweeted.

	Since Morsi's overthrow, the military government has launched a brutal crackdown against his supporters, leaving hundreds dead and thousands jailed after often speedy mass trials [Getty]

After an Islamic State group bombing on a Cairo church in December, Cairo accused fugitive Brotherhood leaders who fled to Qatar of training and financing those responsible for the attack.

The Islamist movement strongly condemned the December bombing, which killed at least 29 worshippers, at the time saying: "shedding the blood of all Egyptians is prohibited; Christian and Muslim."

Qatar lashed out at Egypt saying such accusations "sully the name of Qatar" and were an attempt to "cover up any failures of the relevant Egyptian authorities" and would inflame tensions.

Egyptian-Qatari relations sharply declined after the 2013 military overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood of which former President Mohammad Morsi was a senior official.

Egypt's regime has long accused Qatari-based broadcaster Al Jazeera of being sympathetic to the Islamist movement.

IS has claimed responsibility for the latest bombings - the deadliest attacks on the country's Christian minority in recent memory.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced late on Sunday a three-month state of emergency following the bombings.

"The countries that have supported terrorism and are supporting terrorism must be held accountable by the international community," Sisi said during a televised speech.

"These countries have created this ideology and brought fighters from everywhere while we pay the price," he added.

An Egyptian lawmaker told local media that countries Sisi was referring to were Brotherhood-backers Qatar and Turkey, but both Qatar and Turkey have strongly condemned Sunday's attacks.