Posted on 12/09/2004 7:19:14 PM PST by miltonim
Over the past three years, and in the past two months especially, the Cairo government has turned a blind eye to the persecution of Coptic Christians
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Since two Christians were killed, reportedly by five Muslims, on Aug. 14, around 1,200 Christians from the Al-Kosheh region near Luxor in Upper Egypt have been arrested and many of them tortured ...
The arrests began Aug. 15, when Christians in the region expressed outrage at the killings... Bishop Anba Wissa, the Coptic spiritual leader of the El-Baliana region, and his priests made official complaints Aug. 19 ...
The local government continued rounding up the Christians, including men, women and children in groups of 50 to 60 at a time. They were tied to doors and beaten, and women and children were tortured with electric shock devices to all parts of their bodies, according to the letter from Bishop Wissa. One 11-year-old boy, Roman Boctor, was hung upside down from an electric ceiling fan and tortured as the fan rotated. Police attempted to rape his 14-year-old sister, Hania, at the police station but her screams drew a crowd and the police stopped.
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The bishop and two of his priests were arrested Oct. 10 on charges of damaging national unity and insulting the government, crimes that can be punished by death...
But in the past three years, the Egyptian media alone have reported 40 Christians killed by Muslim extremists for failing to pay protection money, and in 1997 there were 500 to 600 Christian girls forced to convert to Islam, according to reports from a top Egyptian religious leader...
(Excerpt) Read more at sullivan-county.com ...
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