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20 Coptic Christians abducted in Libya
January 4, 2015 - 11:06 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Masked gunmen in central Libyakidnapped 13 Coptic
Christians on Saturday, Jan 3 after seven were abducted days earlier,
said a witness and a priest, in a new wave of assaults against Egypt's
Christians working in the war-torn North African nation plagued with
Islamic extremists, the Associated Press reported.
Witness Hanna Aziz told the AP that the gunmen in the Libyan city of
Sirte went room to room in their residence at 2:30 a.m. Saturday and
asked for identification papers to separate Muslim workers from
Christians. Aziz says the gunmen handcuffed the Christians and drove
away with them.
"They were 15 armed and masked men who came in four vehicles. They had
a list of full names of Christians in the building. While checking
IDs, Muslims were left aside while Christians were grabbed," Aziz
said, adding that he survived simply because he didn't open his door.
"I heard my friends screaming but they were quickly shushed at
gunpoint. After that, we heard nothing," said Aziz who said he has
three relatives among the hostages. "I am still in my room waiting for
them to take me. I want to die with them," he added.
Abu Makar, a Coptic priest in the workers' hometown of Samalout in
southern Egypt, confirmed the abduction took place. He said seven
other Coptic Christians from Samalout were taken while trying to
escape Sirte a few days earlier.
Sirte has become a safe haven for extremist Islamist groups like Ansar
al-Shariah, blamed for the September 2013 attack on the U.S. Consulate
in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.
The abduction came on the heels of the killing of a Coptic couple ?
who used to work as doctors in Sirte? and their daughter.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it is following
up on the case, urging Egyptians in the city to stay indoors until the
government can facilitate a safe return home. Ministry Spokesman Badr
Abdel-Atti said that Egypt can't send a diplomatic mission to Libya
because "many of the regions are out of state control." Egypt closed
its mission in Tripoli last year and withdrew its ambassador after his
own abduction at the hands of militiamen, disgruntled at the arrest of
a top Islamic militia commander in Egypt.
In March, the bodies of seven Christian Egyptians were found in the
eastern city of Benghazi, killed by gunshots to the head while
handcuffed.
In March 2013, dozens of Coptic Christians were tortured inside a
detention center run by a powerful militia in Benghazi. The men, who
were suspected of proselytizing, were rounded up in a market by gunmen
who checked their right wrists for tattoos of crosses, a common mark
worn by many Egyptian Christians.
Islamic extremist militias have been targeting Christians, women,
journalists, refugees and those considered former loyalists of Moammar
Gadhafi, who was toppled and killed in Libya's 2011 civil war.
Egyptians became a top target for the militias after the Egyptian
government began supporting the Libyan army battling Islamic
militants.
"We are witnessing a pattern of persecution against Christians in
Egypt; I fear for the lives of the hostages," said Magdi Malak, a
Cairo-based activist involved in the case.
January 4, 2015 - 11:06 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Masked gunmen in central Libyakidnapped 13 Coptic
Christians on Saturday, Jan 3 after seven were abducted days earlier,
said a witness and a priest, in a new wave of assaults against Egypt's
Christians working in the war-torn North African nation plagued with
Islamic extremists, the Associated Press reported.
Witness Hanna Aziz told the AP that the gunmen in the Libyan city of
Sirte went room to room in their residence at 2:30 a.m. Saturday and
asked for identification papers to separate Muslim workers from
Christians. Aziz says the gunmen handcuffed the Christians and drove
away with them.
"They were 15 armed and masked men who came in four vehicles. They had
a list of full names of Christians in the building. While checking
IDs, Muslims were left aside while Christians were grabbed," Aziz
said, adding that he survived simply because he didn't open his door.
"I heard my friends screaming but they were quickly shushed at
gunpoint. After that, we heard nothing," said Aziz who said he has
three relatives among the hostages. "I am still in my room waiting for
them to take me. I want to die with them," he added.
Abu Makar, a Coptic priest in the workers' hometown of Samalout in
southern Egypt, confirmed the abduction took place. He said seven
other Coptic Christians from Samalout were taken while trying to
escape Sirte a few days earlier.
Sirte has become a safe haven for extremist Islamist groups like Ansar
al-Shariah, blamed for the September 2013 attack on the U.S. Consulate
in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.
The abduction came on the heels of the killing of a Coptic couple ?
who used to work as doctors in Sirte? and their daughter.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it is following
up on the case, urging Egyptians in the city to stay indoors until the
government can facilitate a safe return home. Ministry Spokesman Badr
Abdel-Atti said that Egypt can't send a diplomatic mission to Libya
because "many of the regions are out of state control." Egypt closed
its mission in Tripoli last year and withdrew its ambassador after his
own abduction at the hands of militiamen, disgruntled at the arrest of
a top Islamic militia commander in Egypt.
In March, the bodies of seven Christian Egyptians were found in the
eastern city of Benghazi, killed by gunshots to the head while
handcuffed.
In March 2013, dozens of Coptic Christians were tortured inside a
detention center run by a powerful militia in Benghazi. The men, who
were suspected of proselytizing, were rounded up in a market by gunmen
who checked their right wrists for tattoos of crosses, a common mark
worn by many Egyptian Christians.
Islamic extremist militias have been targeting Christians, women,
journalists, refugees and those considered former loyalists of Moammar
Gadhafi, who was toppled and killed in Libya's 2011 civil war.
Egyptians became a top target for the militias after the Egyptian
government began supporting the Libyan army battling Islamic
militants.
"We are witnessing a pattern of persecution against Christians in
Egypt; I fear for the lives of the hostages," said Magdi Malak, a
Cairo-based activist involved in the case.