AFRICA/EGYPT - Accomplice of a gang specialized in the kidnapping of Coptics arrested

Sohag (Agenzia Fides) - Mina Zaghloul Hanna comes from a Coptic Christian family and was arrested in recent days by the police in Sohag because considered an accomplice of a gang specialized in kidnapping wealthy Copts of the region, in central Egypt. Local sources reveal that the arrested gave the gang suggestions on people to be seized – belonging to the same Christian community - and their habits, so as to favor the kidnappings. Recently, reports the Copts United website, the gang had tried to kidnap a Coptic pharmacist, and during the criminal operation had killed his father.
In Upper Egypt, the systematic kidnapping of persons belonging to the Coptic Christian community has now taken on the traits of a true criminal business: according to the data relayed by local media, in the Governorate of Minya alone the total amount of money paid to pay the ransom of Christians kidnapped in January 2011 - when Egypt began the so-called "Arab Spring" that led to the fall of the regime of Hosni Mubarak - has now surpassed the figure of 120 million Egyptian pounds, equivalent to more than 16 million euro (see Fides 09/12/2014). (GV) (Agenzia Fides 23/12/2014)