Tag: Egypt

Copts flee El-Arish after sixth murder in month

February 24, 2017 Egypt Cairo, Copts, Egypt, El-Arish, Islamic State, Mohamed Morsi, Sinai, Suez

Egyptian Christians are beginning to flee Sinai’s largest city, El-Arish, after yet another Copt was killed there, reports Watani. Kamel Youssef, a 40 year old plumber, yesterday (23 Feb) became the latest victim, according to AP, which said militants stormed his home and shot him dead in front of his . . . Read More

‘IS’ kills Coptic father and son in Sinai

February 22, 2017 Egypt Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, Copts, Egypt, El-Arish, Islamic State, Sinai

Two more Coptic Christians have been killed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Egyptian security officials said suspected militants were responsible, as AP reports. This comes days after the Islamic State threatened to wipe out Christians from Egypt and following the murder of two other Copts in Sinai. Saad Hana, 65, was . . . Read More

Another Copt killed ‘by Islamic State’ in Sinai

February 16, 2017 Egypt Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, Copts, Egypt, El-Arish, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Sinai

A Coptic Christian teacher has been killed in the city of El-Arish in Egypt’s North Sinai province, four days after the murder of a Coptic vet. Gamal Tawfiq, 50, was gunned down on his way to school this morning (16 Feb), reports AP. His murder follows that of Bahgat Zakhar . . . Read More

‘Coptic’ vet assassinated ‘by IS affiliates’

February 15, 2017 Egypt Copts, Egypt, El-Arish, Islamic State, Sinai

A vet believed to be a Coptic Christian was shot dead in Egypt’s increasingly lawless North Sinai province, according to reports. The state-run newspaper Al-Ahram reported that the man was Coptic and came under heavy fire from unknown assailants as he left his clinic in a suburb of North Sinai’s . . . Read More

Egypt couple’s murder marks second attack on Christians during Copt Christmas

January 11, 2017 Egypt Alexandria, Copts, Egypt, Tala

Two Egyptian Coptic Christians found dead in their bed on 6 January – the traditional Christmas celebration for Copts – were murdered because of their faith, according to the brother of the dead woman. Police said robbery was the motivation for the deaths of Gamal Sami, 60 and his wife, Nadia, 48, . . . Read More

Egypt: bombed church restored in less than a month

January 3, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Cairo, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Pope Tawadros II

The Egyptian church in which a suicide bomber killed 27 people has been fully restored less than one month after the attack, reports Coptic news site Watani. The Boutrossiya chapel, which is adjacent to the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral of St. Mark in Cairo, was restored following a pledge from President . . . Read More

Iraqi clergy say Prince’s solidarity message needs political backing

December 22, 2016 Egypt, Iraq, London, Prince Charles, Shia, Sunni, Syria

Prince Charles speaking at London’s St Thomas Cathedral Syriac Orthodox Church, UK, October 2016The Prince of Wales Iraqi church leaders in Britain have welcomed a radio message by Prince Charles, the future King of England highlighting the persecution of religious minorities, but said that it must be followed by . . . Read More

6 years on: what has the Arab Spring meant for Christians?

December 20, 2016 Arab Spring, Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Iraq, Libya, Middle East, Muammar Gaddafi, Syria, Tunisia

Demonstrators on the streets of Cairo, Egypt in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, November 2012. World Watch Monitor The Arab Spring, which began 17 December, 2010, started with a wave of protests in Tunisia, followed by other Arab countries. It was positively acclaimed as a social movement demanding an . . . Read More

Fresh criticism for Egypt church construction law

November 18, 2016 Egypt Churches, Copts, Egypt, Middle East, Muslim Brotherhood

After the ratification of a law on the building of churches in Egypt in September, Copts and rights organisations have voiced concerns that this will not aid in turning the tide on discrimination against Egypt’s Orthodox Christian minority. For decades the construction and renovation of churches has been obstructed by . . . Read More

Four Copts, including child, abducted for ransom

October 5, 2016 Egypt Asyut, Children, Copts, Egypt, Kidnapping, Qena

Four Christians, including a child, on Sunday (2 Oct.) became the latest of hundreds of Egypt’s Copts to fall victim to kidnapping and extortion. Brothers Emad and Ramy Lamei, both day labourers, together with their relative Marzouq Ashamallah and his nine-year-old son Amir, were lured with the promise of a . . . Read More

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