Egyptian Bishop Warns of Another Massacre in Nag Hammadi
By Mary Abdelmassih
(AINA) -- Bishop Kyrillos, the Coptic Orthodox bishop of Nag Hammadi, received last week several threats of attacks to be carried out on churches in Nag Hammadi, either on New Year's Eve or Christmas Eve on January 6. "I do not want another Nag Hammadi Massacre to happen again," he said in an interview on the Egyptian independent TV Channel Al Tahrir. On January 6, 2010 6 Copts were killed and more than 15 injured in a drive-by shooting of worshippers as they left church after celebrating the Coptic Orthodox Christmas Eve's mass, which falls on January 6 according to the Julian Calender (AINA 1-7-2010).
The Nag Hammadi diocese will cancel all festivities for New Year's Eve and Christmas Eve, and will end the midnight service early and not after midnight as is the norm.
(AP) LAGOS, Nigeria — Boko Haram's insurgency started with robed men on motorcycles killing their enemies one at a time across Nigeria's remote and dusty northeast. Now the radical Muslim sect's attacks have morphed into a nationwide sectarian fight.
They're taking on strategic targets like the country's United Nations headquarters and are striking on symbolic days — including Christmas attacks now two years in a row.
At least 39 people were killed when Boko Haram militants attacked two churches and set off explosions elsewhere Sunday, sparking panic and fears of mob violence.
Bizarre hoax: Barnette gained attention this spring for a pair of strange, anti-Semitic packages she sent to politicians
A woman who was facing federal charges of sending a fake Weapons of Mass Destruction to a New York politician was killed by police officer after attacking him at her apartment in Marietta, Georgia.
In April, Jameela Barnette, 53, mailed a vial of perfume, a hateful letter and a stuffed monkey with a star of David on it to New York state Sen Greg Ball, because she believed he was biased against her Islamic faith.
Egypt ChargesThree Soldiers With 'Manslaughter' in the Maspero Massacre
(AINA) -- The Supreme Military Court started today, December 27, procedures in the trial of three soldiers on charges of "manslaughter" of 14 Christian Copts during the Maspero Massacre which took place in front of the radio and television Building in Maspero on October 9. According to the indictment, the list of defendants were limited to three soldiers from the military police, who were charged with manslaughter, which under the penal code carries penalties of imprisonment of not more than seven years.
Kirolos Andraws had every reason to be excited about the January uprising in his native Egypt, figuring democracy would bring hope for young people like him.
Then one day in February, says Mr. Andraws, a gang of thugs beat him and told him, "you deserve to die." His offense, he says: refusing to convert to Islam.
In late March, Mr. Andraws, a 23-year- old engineer, used a tourist visa to board an Egyptair flight for New York City. He let a room in a friend's apartment, hired an immigration lawyer and applied for asylum. He has survived mainly on wages and tips from jobs as a cook, cashier and delivery man.
Family of Murdered Egyptian Christians On the Run Due to Muslim Terror
(AINA) -- Two weeks after the murder of two Christian brothers by Muslims during the violence that swept the upper Egyptian village of elGhorayzat, the family of the murdered Christians has temporarily come out of hiding to speak of the terror they have been subjected to and decry the impunity enjoyed by the killers, who are walking freely in the village.
On November 28, the two Christian brothers, Kamel Tamer Abraham (55) and Camille Tamer Abraham (50), were killed in revenge for the death of the Muslim Mohamad Abdel-Nazeer, who was injured during an altercation with a village Christian over the building of a fence round the Christian's house, and who later died in hospital. The Christian man fled from the village with his family.
Liege attacks: gunman Nordine Amrani had no history of mental instability
Nordine Amrani, the lone-wolf gunman who died after killing five people including a baby in a crowded Belgian square yesterday, had a long criminal record but not one of mental instability.
The 33-year-old Amrani was well known to police before he went on the rampage in the eastern Belgian city of Liege, opening fire on families shopping for Christmas and youths leaving end-of-year school exams, also wounding more than 100 others before his own demise.
Grenade Bombing and Shooting Attack in Liege, Belgium
On December 13, 2011 at around 12:30pm, lone gunman identified as 32 year old Nordine Amrani went on a killing rampage in a busy downtown area of Liege, Belgium. Nordine Amrani lobbed three hand grenades at people standing at a bus stop near the Place Saint-Lambert square and subsequently opened fire from an AK-47. The mayhem resulted in deaths of 5 people, including the gunman. Additional 123 people had been injured in the attack.
Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, says the Arab Spring could lead to increased hostility towards Chritsians in the Middle East. Photograph: Spencer Murphy for the Guardian
The archbishop of Canterbury has warned that the Arab spring could lead to increased hostility towards Christians in the Middle East, describing their position as "more vulnerable than it has been for centuries".
He told around 80 peers last Friday: "Under some of the discredited regimes of recent years, they have enjoyed a certain degree of freedom from aggression or discrimination.
Egypt’s Christians Prepare for New Political Climate
By MIKE ELKIN
CAIRO — A young woman with a kerchief on her head lit a candle and prayed Sunday beneath a mosaic of Mary and Jesus at a packed Mass at St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church. Then she picked up a leaflet next to the candle rack from an organization called Shahid, or Witness. It listed emergency phone numbers, e-mail addresses, Facebook and Twitter information should trouble arise at voting stations during parliamentary elections this week.
For those attending Mass at St. Mark’s, in the upper-class district of Maadi in Cairo, the elections represent the beginning of a democratic Egypt but also instill fear of a party coming to power that favors Islamic law.
Thousands of Muslims Attack Christians in Egypt, 2 Killed, Homes and Stores Torched
By Mary Abdelmassih
(AINA) -- Thousands of Muslims attacked and besieged Copts in elGhorayzat village, population 80,000, killing two Copts and severely wounding others, as well as looting and torching homes and businesses. A quarrel between a Copt, John Hosni, and Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer, who later died in hospital, turned into collective punishment of all Copts in the majority Christian village of elGhorayzat, in the Maragha district of Sohag province. Muslims vowed not to bury Abdel-Nazeer until John Hosni is punished. Mr. Hosni fled from the village with his family, "fearing a wholesale massacre of Copts," reported activist Mariam Ragy.
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood 'trying to rig poll with gifts'
High turnout: voters queue to cast their votes at a Cairo polling station today. The election is staggered over six weeks
High turnout: voters queue to cast their votes at a Cairo polling station today. The election is staggered over six weeks
The Muslim Brotherhood was today accused of attempting to rig Egypt's election by handing out gifts and food at polling stations in a desperate attempt to win power.
Witnesses told the Evening Standard that the Islamist party, which is expected to secure a large share of the votes, had a strong presence both inside and outside polling stations. Onlookers claimed some Brotherhood groups were allowed to set up tables with laptop computers in order to show "people how to vote".
Christians killed and churches bombed amid Islamist violence in Nigeria
Christians are frequently victims of violence in Nigeria
Two worshippers were killed and at least 12 injured in an armed raid on a church, and at least six other churches were bombed during a spate of widespread attacks by Islamist militants in Northern Nigeria that left around 150 people dead.
Egyptian anti-government protesters in Cairo celebrate after the resignation of the president. Hosni Mubarak. Photograph: Khaled Elfiqi/EPA
As Egypt's deeply flawed parliamentary elections approach and the revolution struggles to maintain momentum, the battle over the media – and TV in particular – is of great importance. In a country with an illiteracy rate of 40%, television is the main and most trusted source of news. This is not lost on Egypt's activists, who are busy looking for ways to reach those outside the informed and critical Twitter/Facebook circles that have been the central means of spreading dissent so far.
Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah, whose incarceration by the military has become a focal point of protests. Photograph: Picasa
Egyptian activists have called for an international day of action to defend their country's revolution, as global opposition mounts towards the military junta.
Egypt Randomly Arresting Copts for Maspero Massacre
Written by Mary Abdelmassih
(AINA) -- Egypt's Military Prosecutor decided on November 3 to continue the detention of 34 Coptic Christians for another 15 days, pending investigations on charges of inciting violence, carrying arms and insulting the armed forces during the October 9 Maspero Massacre, which claimed the lives of 27 Christians and injured 329 (AINA 10-10-2011).
The court session was attended by more than twenty defense lawyers. The case was adjourned to November 18.
Coptic Christian Student Murdered By Classmates for Wearing a Cross
(AINA) -- In mid-October Egyptian media published news of an altercation between Muslim and Christian students over a classroom seat at a school in Mallawi, Minya province. The altercation lead to the murder of a Christian student. The media portrayed the incident as non-sectarian. However, Copts Without Borders, a Coptic news website, refuted this version and was first to report that the Christian student was murdered because he was wearing a crucifix.
Libyans hold up flags that read in Arabic, "There is no god but God" as they rally to listen to National Transitional Council chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil, in support of imposing Islamic sharia law, in the eastern coastal city of Benghazi, on October 28, 2011. (ABDULLAH DOMA - AFP/GETTY IMAGES) When mass protests broke out across the Middle East and North Africa earlier in the year, pundits and politicians across Europe and North America worried that radical Islamists would hijack the revolutions and impose sharia law across the region.
Egypt military jails dissident over Coptic clashes
By Samer al-Atrush
Egypt's ruling military jailed a veteran dissident and blogger on Sunday on charges of inciting deadly clashes between soldiers and Christians this month, his sister and a fellow activist said.
Alaa Abdel Fatah, who was jailed for his activism under ousted president Hosni Mubarak's government in 2006, was remanded in custody for 15 days, said his sister Mona Seif, who is also a leading opponent of military trials.
"Radical Islamist" shot, wounded after firing at U.S. embassy in Sarajevo
He was a member, according to this story, of a Tiny Minority of Extremists in Bosnia -- in this case, the Wahhabis. "Islamist shot dead after firing at US embassy in Sarajevo," from Agence France-Presse, October 28:
A gunman opened fire at the US embassy in Sarajevo Friday before being taken out by a sniper, Bosnian radio reported, identifying the attacker as a radical Islamist.
(AINA) -- The Supreme Military Court started today, December 27, procedures in the trial of three soldiers on charges of "manslaughter" of 14 Christian Copts during the Maspero Massacre which took place in front of the radio and television Building in Maspero on October 9. According to the indictment, the list of defendants were limited to three soldiers from the military police, who were charged with manslaughter, which under the penal code carries penalties of imprisonment of not more than seven years.
