* Army of Islam in Gaza denies Egyptian accusations
* Hamas demands Egypt show proof that Palestinians involved * Mubarak: bombing was meant to divide Muslims, Christians
(Adds Hamas comment)
By Marwa Awad
CAIRO, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Egypt's interior minister said on Sunday the government had proof that the Army of Islam, a Gaza-based Palestinian group, was behind the New Year's Day bombing of a church that killed 23 people.
The Army of Islam praised the attack but denied involvement, while the Islamist group Hamas, which controls Gaza, called on Egypt on Sunday to share its evidence, saying that Israel was the only target of Palestinian armed groups.
Egyptian officials had suggested that al Qaeda had a hand in the blast that ripped through a crowd outside the church in the city of Alexandria, prompting protests by Christians that the state had not done enough to protect them.
An Iraq-based al Qaeda group had called for attacks on Egypt's Coptic Christians, who make up one tenth of the population, before the church bombing.
The bomber died in the attack, which wounded 97 people.
"If elements of the Palestinian Army of Islam, linked to al Qaeda, thought they had hidden behind elements that were recruited, we have decisive proof of their heinous involvement in planning and carrying out such a villainous terrorist act," Interior Minister Habib el-Adli said in a speech.
Hamas rejected the idea of links between al Qaeda and Gaza militants and demanded Egypt provide evidence to back its claim.
"We confirm that there is no presence of the al Qaeda organisation in the Gaza Strip and that all Palestinian factions and groups point their rifles against the Zionist enemy and only against the Zionist enemy," Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nono said.
Hamas instead blamed Israel's foreign intelligence service Mossad for the Alexandria attack, without providing evidence.
President Hosni Mubarak, in an address broadcast on state TV, praised the police for their efforts to identify those responsible and said the attackers had sought to sow discord between Egyptian Copts and Muslims.
Sectarian tensions often flare in Egypt over issues such as building churches, religious conversions or romantic relationships between members of both faiths.
"We will not allow terrorism to shake our stability and horrify our people or attack the unity of Muslims and Copts," Mubarak said. "Egypt's security and stability are targeted."
Egyptian state security had pointed to possible foreign involvement and had investigated several Palestinians who it perceived as threats.
A spokesman for the Army of Islam, which considers al-Qaeda's leaders as spiritual mentors, told Reuters in Gaza that the group "has no connection to the church attack in Egypt, though we praise those who did it".
The Army of Islam played a part in a cross-border attack in 2006 in the Gaza Strip in which Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was abducted. The group later cut relations with the Hamas government in Gaza and has clashed with it. (Reporting by Marwa Awad and Yasmine Saleh in Cairo; Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Writing by Tom Pfeiffer; editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)
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