MAGGIE MICHAEL CAIRO Egyptians, horrified by the brutal stabbing of a pregnant Muslim woman inside a German courtroom, say the lack of outrage over the incident is evidence of racism and anti-Islamic feeling in Germany.

MAGGIE MICHAEL
CAIRO

Egyptians, horrified by the brutal stabbing of a pregnant Muslim woman inside a German courtroom, say the lack of outrage over the incident is evidence of racism and anti-Islamic feeling in Germany.

Thousands of mourners marched behind the coffin of Marwa al-Sherbini, 32, in her Mediterranean hometown of Alexandria yesterday. Many carried banners condemning racism and chanted: "Germans are the enemies of God."

Her brother, Tarek al-Sherbini, said: "We will avenge her killing. In the West, they don't recognise us. There is racism."

Al-Sherbini, who was about four months pregnant, was involved in a court case in Dresden against a neighbour who called her a terrorist for wearing a headscarf.

She was set to testify against him when he stabbed her 18 times in front of her three-year-old son.

Her husband, who was in Germany on a research fellowship, came to her aid and was also stabbed by the neighbour and shot in the leg by a security guard who mistook him for the attacker. He is being treated in hospital.

The killer, who has not been identified, is in detention and prosecutors have opened an investigation. Christian Avenarius, the prosecutor in Dresden, said the killer had a deep hatred of Muslims. He added: "It was clearly a xenophobic attack of a fanatical lone wolf."

He said the attacker was a Russian of German descent who had come to Germany in 2003 and had expressed his contempt for Muslims at the start of the trial.

The killing has dominated Egyptian media for days, while it has received comparatively little coverage in German and Western media.

A German Muslim group criticised government officials and the media for not paying enough attention to the crime. Aiman Mazyek, of the Central Council of Muslims, said: "The reactions of politicians and media have been incomprehensibly meagre."

Egyptian commentators said the incident was an example of how hate crimes against Muslims were overlooked in comparison to hate crimes committed by Muslims against Westerners Abdel Azzem Hamad, chief editor of the independent Egyptian daily el-Shorouk, said that if the victim had been a Jew, there would be have been an uproar.

"We demand attention is given to the killing of a young innocent mother," he said.

The Egyptian Pharmacists' Association called for a boycott of German drugs. - AP