AINA
A mob of nearly 200 Muslims torched eight Christian homes on Saturday morning in the Upper Egyptian village of Awlad Khalaf. The attack was initiated by a rumor that a house which is being built by Wahib Halim Attia will be turned into a church. Two Christians and one Muslim were injured, no fatalities were reported.
Wahib Halim Attia obtained a license to build a house in the village on a 95 square meter plot. The house grew to an area of 350 square meters but was still on agricultural land that he owns. This gave rise to the rumor that he intended to build a church instead.
Father Weesa Azmy, the priest at St. George Church in the neighboring village of Negou Madam East, said that someone went to the City Council in Dar es Salam and told them about the irregularities in the house construction, and Wahib was ordered to remove the excess by June 24. "Instead Wahib carried on with the construction, which angered the Muslims, who decided to play God and take the law into their own hands; they attacked the construction site and other Christian homes."
According to Father Weesa, Muslims broke into the home of Ihab Tamer, who defended himself with a rifle. A Muslim who was there to help Ihab was injured by a bullet in his leg from Tamer's rifle. The matter was explained and resolved with the family of that Muslim.
According to eyewitnesses the Muslims, mostly Salafists and some youngsters, looted and torched eight homes belonging to Wahib Halim Attia and his two brothers, his three cousins and two other Copts, including Ihab Tamer.
The police arrived three hours after the looting and torching had ended.
Father Weesa said Ihab Tamer, who was in hiding after the shooting incident, contacted him and he advised him to give himself up to the police as he was acting in self-defense. "If someone sees people breaking into his home, surely he has to defend his family and himself."
The police told father Weesa, who did not witness the incident himself, that most of the attackers were teenagers between the ages of 10 and 14 years old. This was refuted by eyewitnesses. However, he said "if it is true that there were children and teens, then definitely someone else has sent them." He added he will not attend any reconciliation meetings and the rule of law must be upheld, on the Copt if found guilty and the attackers. Most of the teens and children were arrested by the police but no adults were arrested.
Police and security are now present in Awlad Khalaf village and the 30 Christian homes are being guarded, the Security Chief said tonight on the Egyptian State TV.
Showing posts with label North Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label North Africa. Show all posts
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
A call for Islamic state in Libya
AP
A top Libyan al Qaeda commander has urged his countrymen to overthrow Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s regime and establish Islamic rule, expanding the terror network’s attempts to capitalize on the wave of unrest sweeping the region.
Abu Yahia al-Libi, al Qaeda’s Afghanistan commander, said in a video posted on a militant website that after the fall of the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, it is now Col. Gadhafi’s turn, as rebel fighters there press a nearly monthlong campaign to oust him.
Those nation’s autocratic governments — enemies of Islamic militants — practiced “the worst kind of oppression” with the backing of the West and failed to heed the lessons of history, he said.
“Now it is the turn of Gadhafi after he made the people of Libya suffer for more than 40 years,” he said, adding that it would bring shame to the Libyan people if the strongman were allowed to die a peaceful death.
A top Libyan al Qaeda commander has urged his countrymen to overthrow Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s regime and establish Islamic rule, expanding the terror network’s attempts to capitalize on the wave of unrest sweeping the region.
Abu Yahia al-Libi, al Qaeda’s Afghanistan commander, said in a video posted on a militant website that after the fall of the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, it is now Col. Gadhafi’s turn, as rebel fighters there press a nearly monthlong campaign to oust him.
Those nation’s autocratic governments — enemies of Islamic militants — practiced “the worst kind of oppression” with the backing of the West and failed to heed the lessons of history, he said.
“Now it is the turn of Gadhafi after he made the people of Libya suffer for more than 40 years,” he said, adding that it would bring shame to the Libyan people if the strongman were allowed to die a peaceful death.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Crackdown on Christians ramping up
Analyst: Deportation orders reflect fear Muslims will convert
WorldNetDaily
The government of Morocco has notified another 23 mostly Christian foreigners, including one American, that they're scheduled for imminent expulsion from the North African country.
And an analyst says that those targeted by the deportation order indicate the government of Morocco, which historically has been considered a moderate Muslim nation, now is fearful that Muslims will convert if exposed to Christianity.
This is the second large deportation action taken by the Moroccan government against mostly Christian individuals in the past two months. More than 40 Christian workers were deported from Morocco in March.
Aidan Clay of International Christian Concern says the North African nation simply is alarmed about the possibility that Muslims may see an opportunity to leave Islam.
"The reason they received these notices is that they allegedly broke Morocco's anti-proselytizing laws. This is the same reason for the deportations in March," Clay told WND.
"This goes way beyond anti-proselytizing. It's basically anti-conversion. The thinking there is if there is no proselytizing, no one will convert from Islam," Clay explained. "But upholding these laws directly violates the fundamental religious freedoms of the Moroccan people."
Clay said the United States government is hesitating to confront the Moroccan government.
"Some people in the United States government don't want to confront the Moroccan government. They say, 'If we confront the Moroccan government with this, we're not going to get anywhere. They're not going to listen to us,'" Clay said.
But that feeling isn't universal yet.
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., has made issues of human rights and human trafficking part of his concern.
Speaking on the House floor last week, Congressman Wolf called on the Moroccan government to live up to its stated commitment to religious freedom.
"I call on the government of Morocco to uphold its commitment to the principles of religious tolerance and freedom, that for so long, made it a model of tolerance and modernity in the Arab world," he said.
"And I call on our embassy, the State Department and the White House to raise this issue with Moroccan authorities at the highest levels, and defend the interests and rights of these American citizens … whose lives have been shattered by these events," Wolf said.
Wolf's spokesman, Dan Scandling, said the congressman believes the new round of deportations is "disconcerting."
"I don't think anyone has a firm answer as to why they're doing it, but it is certainly a step backwards. That's why the congressman made a statement on the floor of the House last week and is going to have a hearing in June on Capitol Hill with the Human Rights Commission. He wants to find out just what's going on and to get to the bottom of it," Scandling said.
Scandling wouldn't say directly that the expulsions were because of proselytizing.
"You're hearing that that's the reason they're being kicked out. Some of these people have been there a number of years and haven't had any issues. It's raising some eyebrows here and that's why the congressman is raising some of the questions he's raising," Scandling said.
However, Clay said the government in Morocco specifically is targeting Christianity.
"It's a method to try and ensure that Morocco remains a majority Muslim country. We've seen in North Africa in Algeria with the Berber community. There are large numbers of Muslim Berbers converting to Christianity. It's so substantial that the Algerian government hasn't been able to control it," Clay said.
"It's out of their ability to control, but Morocco is seeing the same thing and they're seeing the strength of the Moroccan church movement. They're seeing Muslims converting to Christianity and this move is to put an end to the spread of Christianity in Morocco," Clay said.
Clay added that the list of upcoming deportees includes Europeans from the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Spain and the Netherlands. The deportees also include people from Canada, New Zealand and South Korea.
There is no word on when the 23 persons notified will be ordered to leave Morocco.
Daily reported in March that Christians were being detained in several Moroccan cities and some had been jailed pending their deportations.
During the March crackdown, dozens of Christian orphanage workers, business leaders, teachers and others simply were told their visas were canceled.
A witness to the crackdown, who asked to be identified as Brother D, told WND at that time believers were being detained in several cities and some of them had spent overnight in jails.
Christian work has been ongoing in Morocco for nearly 100 years, a nation under Islamic influences for more than 1,000 years.
According to a report from Mission Network News, the deportation move actually had been building for weeks.
In the report, Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs said Morocco's new minister of justice, Mohamed Naciri, is believed to be responsible for the crackdown.
"It's unclear if simply this new minister of justice is a more devout or more radical Muslim and wants to come against the apostasy movement, encouraging Muslims to leave Islam and follow Jesus Christ and we just don't know that much about the why right now," he told MNN.
Morocco has been dominated by Islamic interests since the 600s, when Arab Muslims moved into the region. In 711, the Berber chief, Tariq Iban Zyad, arrived in conquest of the area. Shortly later, Muslim control was consolidated.
The constitution provides for a monarchy with a Parliament and an independent judiciary.
The embassy website boasts that King Mohammed VI is directly descended from the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, through his daughter Lalla Fatima Zohra.
WorldNetDaily
The government of Morocco has notified another 23 mostly Christian foreigners, including one American, that they're scheduled for imminent expulsion from the North African country.
And an analyst says that those targeted by the deportation order indicate the government of Morocco, which historically has been considered a moderate Muslim nation, now is fearful that Muslims will convert if exposed to Christianity.
This is the second large deportation action taken by the Moroccan government against mostly Christian individuals in the past two months. More than 40 Christian workers were deported from Morocco in March.
Aidan Clay of International Christian Concern says the North African nation simply is alarmed about the possibility that Muslims may see an opportunity to leave Islam.
"The reason they received these notices is that they allegedly broke Morocco's anti-proselytizing laws. This is the same reason for the deportations in March," Clay told WND.
"This goes way beyond anti-proselytizing. It's basically anti-conversion. The thinking there is if there is no proselytizing, no one will convert from Islam," Clay explained. "But upholding these laws directly violates the fundamental religious freedoms of the Moroccan people."
Clay said the United States government is hesitating to confront the Moroccan government.
"Some people in the United States government don't want to confront the Moroccan government. They say, 'If we confront the Moroccan government with this, we're not going to get anywhere. They're not going to listen to us,'" Clay said.
But that feeling isn't universal yet.
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., has made issues of human rights and human trafficking part of his concern.
Speaking on the House floor last week, Congressman Wolf called on the Moroccan government to live up to its stated commitment to religious freedom.
"I call on the government of Morocco to uphold its commitment to the principles of religious tolerance and freedom, that for so long, made it a model of tolerance and modernity in the Arab world," he said.
"And I call on our embassy, the State Department and the White House to raise this issue with Moroccan authorities at the highest levels, and defend the interests and rights of these American citizens … whose lives have been shattered by these events," Wolf said.
Wolf's spokesman, Dan Scandling, said the congressman believes the new round of deportations is "disconcerting."
"I don't think anyone has a firm answer as to why they're doing it, but it is certainly a step backwards. That's why the congressman made a statement on the floor of the House last week and is going to have a hearing in June on Capitol Hill with the Human Rights Commission. He wants to find out just what's going on and to get to the bottom of it," Scandling said.
Scandling wouldn't say directly that the expulsions were because of proselytizing.
"You're hearing that that's the reason they're being kicked out. Some of these people have been there a number of years and haven't had any issues. It's raising some eyebrows here and that's why the congressman is raising some of the questions he's raising," Scandling said.
However, Clay said the government in Morocco specifically is targeting Christianity.
"It's a method to try and ensure that Morocco remains a majority Muslim country. We've seen in North Africa in Algeria with the Berber community. There are large numbers of Muslim Berbers converting to Christianity. It's so substantial that the Algerian government hasn't been able to control it," Clay said.
"It's out of their ability to control, but Morocco is seeing the same thing and they're seeing the strength of the Moroccan church movement. They're seeing Muslims converting to Christianity and this move is to put an end to the spread of Christianity in Morocco," Clay said.
Clay added that the list of upcoming deportees includes Europeans from the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Spain and the Netherlands. The deportees also include people from Canada, New Zealand and South Korea.
There is no word on when the 23 persons notified will be ordered to leave Morocco.
Daily reported in March that Christians were being detained in several Moroccan cities and some had been jailed pending their deportations.
During the March crackdown, dozens of Christian orphanage workers, business leaders, teachers and others simply were told their visas were canceled.
A witness to the crackdown, who asked to be identified as Brother D, told WND at that time believers were being detained in several cities and some of them had spent overnight in jails.
Christian work has been ongoing in Morocco for nearly 100 years, a nation under Islamic influences for more than 1,000 years.
According to a report from Mission Network News, the deportation move actually had been building for weeks.
In the report, Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs said Morocco's new minister of justice, Mohamed Naciri, is believed to be responsible for the crackdown.
"It's unclear if simply this new minister of justice is a more devout or more radical Muslim and wants to come against the apostasy movement, encouraging Muslims to leave Islam and follow Jesus Christ and we just don't know that much about the why right now," he told MNN.
Morocco has been dominated by Islamic interests since the 600s, when Arab Muslims moved into the region. In 711, the Berber chief, Tariq Iban Zyad, arrived in conquest of the area. Shortly later, Muslim control was consolidated.
The constitution provides for a monarchy with a Parliament and an independent judiciary.
The embassy website boasts that King Mohammed VI is directly descended from the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, through his daughter Lalla Fatima Zohra.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
