Tag: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

Egypt: Series of fires in their churches ‘not a coincidence’, say Copts

November 11, 2019 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Cairo, Copts, Egypt, Mansoura, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood

Three Coptic churches in the Upper Egypt region were hit by fires in the last three weeks which, the Copts say, is “not a coincidence”. On Friday morning 1 November a fire started in an adjacent hall of the Mar-Girgis (St George) al-Gyoushi Church in the Shubra district of the . . . Read More

Egypt: Fighting discrimination will need ‘a lot more than taking religion off ID cards’

November 29, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Copts, Egypt, Minorities

Coptic Christians traditionally have a tattoo of a cross on their wrists to demark their religious affiliation. (Photo: Open Doors International)

The Egyptian Parliament will soon look into removing religious affiliation from ID cards, Al-Monitor reported last week. The proposed bill will be submitted to the parliament by Ismail Nasr El-Din to “pave the way for a civil state that respects the values of citizenship”, according to the website Cairo Scene. . . . Read More

Egypt: Man accused of IS allegiance sentenced to death for killing Coptic doctor

November 20, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Cairo, Copts, Egypt, Islamic State, Mohamed Morsi

The Supreme Court in Egypt's capital Cairo. (Photo: Rachid H via Flickr; CC 2.0)

An Egyptian court sentenced a man to death last Saturday, 17 November, for the killing of an 80-year-old Christian doctor in Cairo in September last year, reports The Associated Press. The 40-year-old assailant, whose identity remains undisclosed, entered the doctor’s office in the Egyptian capital pretending to be a patient, . . . Read More

Islamists suspected of bus attack killed, as Copts mourn

November 5, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Anba Macarius, Copts, Egypt, Islamic State, Minorities, Minya, Mohamed Morsi

Egypt’s interior ministry claimed yesterday to have killed 19 Islamist militants suspected of carrying out the bus attack on Friday that killed seven Copts and injured over a dozen others. The militants were killed in a shootout in the desert area west of Minya governorate, where the attack took place, . . . Read More

Egypt’s Copts nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

September 28, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Copts, Egypt, Giza, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood, Pope Tawadros II

In October last year the Coptic church in Sohag, Minya governorate, had its electricity and water supply cut by police, who said they had received complaints from Muslim villagers (Watani)

Egypt’s Coptic Christians have been nominated for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for choosing peaceful coexistence over retaliation in the face of persecution, reports the US-based news site PR Newswire. It is believed to be the first time in the 116-year history of the prize that an ethnic religious group . . . Read More

Egypt appoints its first-ever female Coptic governor

August 30, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Copts, Egypt, Women

A Coptic church in Cairo - Egypt's Copts account for 10 per cent of the population. (Photo: World Watch Monitor, 2004)

For the first time in Egypt’s history a Coptic Christian woman has been appointed as provincial governor. The new governor of Damietta, Dr. Manal Awad Mikhael, is also the second female governor ever to be appointed in Egypt, reports the BBC. Mikhael, 51, was sworn in by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi . . . Read More

Egypt: Mob attack encouraged by police promise ‘No church will be allowed here’

July 17, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Churches, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Minya

A mob attacked a church in Minya, Egypt, on 13 July protesting against its legalisation and received a police officer’s approval, World Watch Monitor has learnt from local sources. The only church in Ezbet Sultan Pasha village, where about 20 percent of the population is Christian, was built in September . . . Read More

Egypt: Families of beheaded Copts finally reunited with remains of loved ones

May 16, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Cairo, Copts, Egypt, Islamic State, Libya, Minya, Pope Tawadros II, Ramadan, Samalut, Upper Egypt

After a three-year wait and a number of broken promises, the Egyptian Coptic families of 20 men beheaded by IS in Libya in 2015 have finally received their loved ones’ remains. The leader of the Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II, accompanied by several bishops, priests and deacons, welcomed the 20 . . . Read More

Egypt’s disappearing Coptic women and girls

May 1, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Beni Suef, Cairo, Children, Copts, Egypt, Giza, Kidnapping, Marriage, Minya, Qalyubia, Qena, Sharqia, Sohag, Women

At least seven Coptic Christian women and girls disappeared in Egypt last month, in what is becoming a recurring phenomenon. In each case, the family of the woman says she was abducted by a Muslim who wished to convert her to Islam and marry her. All of the disappearances have been . . . Read More

Egypt: Court will try 3 men for assault on elderly Coptic woman

April 25, 2018 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Minya, Soad Thabet

Soad Thabet and Bishop Makarius of the Coptic Church.

Three men are scheduled to stand trial in an Egyptian court for publicly stripping a 70-year-old Christian woman following rumours that her son had an affair with a married Muslim woman. Following the rumour and threats made to him and his family, Ashraf Attiya, a then-31-year-old Coptic Christian trader, fled . . . Read More

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