Lt. Gen. Hussein Kamal, a deputy interior minister, said 52 hostages and police were killed and 67 wounded in the incident, which ended with police storming the Assyrian Catholic church to free more than 100 hostages seized by the militants.

Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility in a statement posted on websites for the attack on "the dirty den of idolatry".

Pope Benedict condemned the attack. "I pray for the victims of this senseless violence, made even more ferocious because it struck defenseless people who were gathered in the house of God, which is a house of love and reconciliation," he said.

At least one bomb exploded at the start of the siege. Sporadic gunfire rang out for several hours over the Karrada neighborhood near the heavily fortified Green Zone district.

A federal police source said Sunday's rescue operation was extremely difficult. "The attackers were among children, armed with weapons," the source said. "Most of the casualties were killed or wounded when the security forces raided the place."

Officials say some of the attackers blew up explosives vests or threw grenades during the raid. Security sources said many of the victims died in gunfights between police and insurgents.

A lawmaker denounced the performance of Iraqi forces and said insurgents were exploiting the political vacuum. "This operation hits at the credibility of the government and its ability to handle, preserve and impose security and the enforcement of law," member of Parliament Younadam Kana said.

"Because of their lack of professionalism, and the hasty action taken by security forces in freeing the hostages, many innocent people were killed," he said.

Egypt, meanwhile refused to react to demands by the Islamic State of Iraq over two Coptic women who reportedly converted to Islam.

The SITE monitoring group said the Al-Qaeda group had given Egypt's Coptic Church 48 hours to release the two women.

"Egypt categorically rejects having its name or affairs pushed into such criminal acts," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It also "strongly condemned" the attack on the Baghdad church.

The two women, Camilia Shehata and Wafa Constantine, are the wives of Coptic priests who Muslims have said were forcibly detained by the Coptic Church after they had willingly converted to Islam.

Shehata disappeared for a few days in July, setting of Coptic protests. Police found her and escorted her back home, setting off protests by Muslims who said the church was detaining her after she converted to Islam.

Wafa Constantine also went missing, in 2004, reportedly after her husband refused to give her a divorce. She was temporarily sequestered at a convent as reports of her conversion were circulated.