Allawi said he got the information on Monday from Iraqi and regional contacts knowledgeable about Iraq. "The discussion has started now," Allawi said. "There are discussions and dialogue between messengers representing Baghdadi and representing Zawahiri," referring to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and Ayman al Zawahiri, the head of al Qaeda.

In an impromptu Easter Sunday speech, Pope Francis on Sunday encouraged people to hold fast in their "fearful hearts" to faith despite all the wars, sickness and hatred in the world, acknowledging that many wonder where God is amid so much evil and suffering. Tens of thousands of faithful braved heavy security checks — and, later, a brief downpour from what had been sunny skies — to enter St. Peter's Square where Francis celebrated Mass on the steps leading to St. Peter's Basilica.

The National Security Prosecution decided on Sunday to detain three suspects for 15 days pending investigations on accusations of involvement in the Palm Sunday terrorist attacks on two churches in Tanta and Alexandria, which killed at least 45. According to state media, the three suspects face charges of joining an outlaw group that “aims at obstructing the rule of law and preventing state institutions from working, as well as assaulting the personal freedoms of citizens, especially Christian citizens, attacking their houses of worship and properties, in addition to targeting public institutions with the aim of destroying the state and jeopardising public order by using terrorism as a means to achieve their goals.”

The main suspect in the bombing of St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria was an accountant working in Kuwait who was deported to Egypt after confirming his ties with the Islamic State terrorist organization, Al-Qabas Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The admin of a Facebook page named "Underground" has been arrested on suspicion of having links to the recent church attacks in Tanta and Alexandria, a source with Gharbiya Security Directorate told Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Pope Francis will visit Egypt as planned this month despite the weekend bombings of two Coptic Christian churches that killed 44 people, a Vatican official said. "There is no doubt the Holy Father will maintain his offer to go to Egypt" on April 28 and 29, Monsignor Angelo Becciu, the Holy See's number three, said in an interview published in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera on Monday.

Judicial sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that investigations and DNA analysis results have revealed the identity of the perpetrators of the bombings of Tanta and Alexandria churches. The sources said that the preliminary information indicates that the suicide bomber who carried out the terrorist attack at Mar Girgis church in Tanta was named by the "Islamic State" (IS) militant group Abu Ishaq al-Masri.

Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church oversaw Monday the burial of seven victims of a suicide attack on St. Marks Cathedral in Alexandria that killed 17 people and injured dozens, Ahram Arabic website reported. Hundreds attended the funerals and the burial of the victims at Mir Mena (St Menos) Monastery in King Mariout on the outskirts of Alexandria governorate.

Pope Tawadros II dispatched a cable of condolences that was read during the funeral service of the victims of the St. Mark church bombing on Monday afternoon, at the monastery of Mar Mina, west of Alexandria. The Pope expressed his condolences to the families of the police victims, as well as to those of Christian worshippers, saying that they died on Palm Sunday, coinciding with a festival of joy and celebration in the church.

In bringing to fruition recent threats made by the Islamic State group in Egypt against the Coptic Christian minority, nearly 45 people were killed and more than 100 were injured on Sunday morning in two violent bombings at prominent churches in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria, in addition to unconfirmed reports of further terrorist attacks in other locations.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Sunday morning attacks on the Mar Giurgis church in the Nile Delta city of Tanta and Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria, according to the IS-affiliated Ammaq media outlet.

The US embassy condemned the recent church bombings, considering them “terrorist attacks on peaceful people at church during one of the most holy days in the Coptic year.” “We present our condolences to the victims of the attacks, their families, and their friends, wishing them a speedy recovery,” according to a tweet on its official page, adding that the US stands strong with the Egyptian government and the people against terrorism.

Islamic militants unleashed multiple suicide attacks in the city of Tikrit, north of Baghdad, killing at least 22 people, a provincial official said on Wednesday. Five suicide bombers on foot targeted a police patrol and broke into a police officer's house in Tikrit's al-Zihoor neighborhood, according to a Salahuddin provincial council member, Ahmed al-Karim. Al-Karim told The Associated Press that security forces managed to kill three of the bombers while two blew themselves up. Ten policemen were among the dead and up to 31 people were wounded in Tuesday night's attacks, he added.

The Islamic State (IS) militant group on Thursday claimed the killing of two traffic police in southern Russia this week, as security agencies said they had shot dead four suspects.

Hamas has offered "collaborators" with Israel a week to turn themselves in and receive clemency as it investigates the murder of one of its officials in the Gaza Strip, which it blames on Israel. "The doors of repentance will be open for one week, from Tuesday, April 4 to Tuesday, April 11," the interior ministry said in a statement.

The family of slain Italian student Guilio Regeni appealed to Pope Francis to demand justice and raise their son’s murder case with Egyptian authorities during his upcoming visit to Cairo later in April.

Mit Salseel Misdemeanor Court in Daqahliya sentenced on Monday Al-Sayyed Abdel Khaleq Mohamed Al-Desouky, to six and half years in prison for impersonating the character of one of the president's advisors at the funeral of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, and for claiming that he was attending the funeral on behalf of the president of the Republic of Egypt.

Somalia's al Shabaab Islamist group has taken control of El Bur, a town in the Horn of Africa's semi-autonomous region of Galmudug, after Ethiopian forces left, a government official has said. Al Shabaab is seeking to drive the African Union-mandated peace keeping force, AMISOM, out of Somalia and topple the country's Western-backed central government.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will meet with Pope Francis, who will arrive in Egypt on April 28. The Catholic pope will take part in a ceremony at which he and Sisi will give a speech. There will also be a meeting with Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb. He is scheduled to deliver another speech at the world peace conference organized by Al-Azhar.