AFRICA/EGYPT - Salafist leader condemns the violence against Copts in Libya

Cairo (Agenzia Fides) - The Egyptian parliamentary Younes Makhioun, president of the Salafi al-Nour Conservative Party, condemned the violence - murders and kidnappings - suffered in recent weeks in Libya by the Egyptian Copts. In some public statements, relaunched by the Egyptian media, the Islamist leader has defined such violence as contrary to the principles and provisions of the doctrine and Islamic law, recalling the Libyan factions that have seized 20 Egyptian Copts and has asked for their release as soon as possible and without condition.
The release of 20 Egyptian Copts kidnapped last week in the region of Sirte is the focus of negotiations that involve both the government in Cairo and the emissaries of tribal groups settled in the region of Minya. The collective kidnapping still has many dark sides to it, starting from the reason and the identity of the kidnappers. As Fides learns, the Islamist track that attributes the kidnapping to gunmen affiliated to the Ansar Al-Sharia radical Islamist network is not the only one: other versions circulating in Libya attribute the kidnapping of the Egyptian Copts to kidnappers only interested in getting a consistent ransom in exchange for their release. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 09/01/2015)