Egypt mourns Coptic Christians beheaded in Libya
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday paid a visit to Coptic Pope Tawadross II and offered him condolences for the murder of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians, beheaded by Islamic State extremists in neighbouring Libya. Islamic State released a video on Sunday showing the militant group beheading the Egyptian Christians kidnapped in Libya. The video appeared on the Twitter feed of a website that supports Islamic State, which has seized parts of Iraq and Syria and has also beheaded Western hostages. Egypt's state news agency MENA quoted the spokesman for the Coptic Church as confirming that 21 Egyptian Christians believed to be held by Islamic State were dead. Among others who offered condolences to Pope Tawadross were Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Arab League general secretary Nabil al-Arabi and Saudi ambassador to Egypt Ahmed Kattan. Hours after the Islamic State released the grisly video, Egypt’s warplanes struck Islamic State targets in Libya on Monday.
The head of the Coptic Church issued a statement late Sunday expressing the whole community`s deep sorrow on the loss of the 21 Coptic migrant workers, who mostly hail from impoverished villages in Upper Egypt. IS had militias kidnapped the Egyptian workers between late December and early January in the Libyan city of Sirte. "We trust that the role of all institutions of our state was clear since the beginning of the crisis in Libya, and we believe that they can ensure rights of Egyptian citizens," the statement read. Pope Tawadros extended his condolences at the end of the statement to the families of the workers asking all Egyptians to pray for peace to spread in their country.
Thousands of Egyptians have travelled to neighbouring Libya in search of jobs since an uprising at home in 2011, despite advice from their government not to go to a country sliding into lawlessness. Relatives of the kidnapped workers had urged Cairo to help secure their release. In the southerly Minya Governorate, relatives screamed and fainted upon hearing news of the deaths.
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