Osama Araban, a Muslim man riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, went on a rampage last week in Egypt, killing 63-year old Coptic Christian Abdo George Younan, in the village of Bagour, before traveling onwards and stabbing with intention to kill two other Copts in two different villages.

In the village of Behnay he repeatedly stabbed Coptic shoemaker Adib Boulos before being stopped by eyewitness Behman Saeed. Adib suffered a broken scull and lung hemorrhage, and is still fighting for his life in intensive care.

Osama Araban then traveled to the village of Mit Afif and stabbed his third victim, Sobhy Barsum, a blacksmith. He also stabbed his brother Hani Barsum in the neck -- only to be saved by a co-worker. Hani was also hospitalized.

Osama Araban was arrested the following day.

The funeral procession of Abdo Younan was attended by thousands of Copts, led by Metropolitan Archbishop Benjamin of Menoufia Diocese and seventeen clergymen. Hundreds of banners were held, showing the amount of anger and injustice felt by Copts. Anti State Security chants were heard during the procession, besides calling on President Mubarak and the government to save the Copts from the hands of the fundamentalist who are killing them.

This incident which took place on September 16, 2009, has left Copts in Egypt shocked and angered, not only because attacks against Copts have been escalating, but because of the way the murder was committed.

The details of the attacks, not told by the media, but exposed by Coptic lawyers and activists, reveal that 35-year old car painter Osama Araban not only stabbed Abdo nine times but also severed his head from his body -- an Islamic ritual beheading.

Egyptian State Security, which is in charge of drafting press releases and news related to Muslim attacks on Christians, decided from the start which route they wanted the incident to take, and tailor the news accordingly. In an attempt to influence public opinion for the forthcoming acquittal of the Muslim killer, the media reported that the reason for the killing was a material dispute.

Renowned attorney and activist Dr.Naguib Ghoraeel, head of Egyptian Union Human Rights Organization, issued a press release on September 17, calling the crime a massacre, and confirming that what happened was revenge against Christians. He accused the Interior Ministry of lying I suggesting the incident is a mere quarrel, and warned them that no one will believe that the murderer is mentally unstable, should they use this defense.

Taken the criticism the State Security received regarding their usual scenarios, they have now decided to take a completely different route, never used before. The pro-government newspaper Youm 7 reported that Obdo Younan Insulted Islam and the killer therefore decided to take revenge by killing him. This news was picked up by other news agencies.

No Muslim has ever been sentenced justly for killing a Copt. Consequently, the Egyptian Government's manipulation of facts is not to save the Copt's murderer from a just punishment, but more to save its face in front of the Western world for being blatantly unjust towards the Coptic victim, given that Egypt is a member of the UN Human Rights Council which is responsible for the protection of human rights around the globe.

Nayer Mansour Sahrab, a Muslim minibus driver, stabbed four Christian Copts on Sunday, September 27, in the village of Delga, killing one and seriously injuring the other three.

The incident led thousands of angry Copts to rally and demand an end to the government's policy of indifference in dealing with Coptic issues. State Security forces have cordoned the village and are still heavily present near the church.

When a Coptic family desired to board a minibus other than the one owned by Sahrab an argument ensued. Sahrab was apparently offended that his services were declined. The Copts were beaten by Sahrab, his brother and other Muslims. Sahrab stabbed Hanna Amir Rezqin his back and abdomen several times with a knife, as well as his brothers Maurice and Amin and his nephew Ashraf Maher Amir, who was stabbed several times in the head. Sahrab fled after committing the crime, but was later arrested.

The killing caused thousands of Copts to rally in front of Deir Mawas Hospital, where Hanna Amir Rezq was taken together with the other three wounded Copts. Hanna died shortly after his arrival. According Mariam Ragy, correspondent for the Middle East Christian Association (MECA), State security prevented Copts from going into the hospital to check on the status of the injured and dispersed them by force. Angry Copts also rallied in the village of Delga holding banners demanding a stop to Coptic persecution, she said.

Reverend Abram, pastor of the village Saint Abram Church told the Egyptian Daily Masry el Youm that this is not just a fight between a Muslim and a Christian, Copts are targeted and this is the second incident within one month that a Copt is killed during a fight with a Muslim. The first Coptic victim was murdered after an argument over planting some palm trees, and the second victim today was murdered over boarding a minibus.

His Grace Aghapius, Bishop the Holy Diocese of Deir Mawas and Delga said that Copts were also assaulted after the burial, with Muslims smashing Coptic-owned cars, as well as attacking streets that are inhabited entirely by Copts, including El-Hamr Street, prompting Coptic inhabitants to remain inside their homes. How could all this happen in the presence of seven State Security cars in the village, adjacent to the church? he asks. I am still waiting for State Security to carry out their promises of solving our problems.

It was Christmas Day according to Egypt's Coptic Calendar, but instead of celebrating, the country's Christian population spent the day mourning seven people killed in a drive-by shooting as they left midnight mass.

Thousands of Copts clashed with police in the southern town of Nag Hamad. They pelted cars with stones and smashed ambulances after gathering for the funeral of six Christians and a Muslim policemen shot dead outside a church.

Witnesses said three men sprayed automatic gunfire into a crowd leaving the midnight service.

Bishop Kiroloss said he decided to end the Christmas service at St John's Church an hour earlier than normal because of threats against Christians. He said many of his faithful had been abused in the street and that he had received a text message warning him that, It is your turn.

Six Christians and a security guard were killed. Nine Copts were injured, two of them seriously.

About 5,000 people attended the funeral. Some began attacking ambulances in frustration at delays in turning over the bodies for burial. The demonstrators chanted: With our spirit and blood, we will sacrifice ourselves for the cross. Protesters also smashed the windows of two shops owned by Muslims before police, using teargas, herded the crowd into the church grounds.

More than 100 Coptic Christian teens have been arrested by security forces in Egypt in what the Christian community considers as pressure from the government to play down the recent fatal church shooting that made international headlines.

Since late last week, Egyptian State Security members have knocked on the doors of Coptic Christian families mostly around dawn and arrested Christian youths, according to Assyrian International News Agency. To date, according to local sources, the number of Coptic youths rounded up without warrants has surpassed 100 people and is growing.

The Coptic community has long complained that State Security has used various tactics, including arrests, to force Christian victims to reconcile with their perpetrators. The reconciliation process, say Copts, is nothing more than a front for forcing the victims to forfeit their rights to press criminal charges.

Because of international attention given to the church shooting in Nag Hammadi, which killed six people, the government has placed heavy pressure on the church and Copts to accept reconciliation, say Coptic rights groups.

Melbourne protest supporting Egyptian copts

Based on article from theage.com.au

Melbourne's Coptic Orthodox Christians took to the streets in protest at violence against them in Egypt..

Deacons in white robes and carrying staffs with bronze crosses led the march, followed by protesters bearing six black coffins. Behind them were priests and the head of the church in Melbourne, Bishop Suriel.

Bloodshed is Not What I Wanted for Christmas read placards, referring to the drive-by shooting of six Coptics in southern Egypt on January 7 as they left church after celebrating Coptic Christmas Eve.

Other placards said Thousands slaughtered. No Convictions, Egyptian Government Take A Stance and Enough, referring to other deaths including 21 Coptics killed at El-Kosheh when muslims extremists went on a 2000 New Year's weekend rampage, looting and destroying 260 homes.

They were also highlighting their claim that the Egyptian Government has failed to prevent sectarian attacks by Muslim extremists.

Organisers put the march numbers at 6000. At one stage it stretched for 2.5 blocks.

Update: US protests supporting Egyptian copts

Based on article from christianpost.com

Since the deadly Christmas Eve shootings in the Egyptian town of Nagaa Hammadi, demonstrations have been held in cities across the world and more are on their way. Related

Hundreds of Coptic Christians took to the streets of Tampa, Florida, to protest what they described as 1,400 years of persecution of Copts in Egypt.

We're raising our voices for those in authority to stop what is happening in Egypt to Christians, said the Rev. Moussa Saleh, leader of Tampa's St. George Coptic Orthodox Church, according to Tampa Bay Online.

One day earlier, Copts in northern Texas rallied in front of the Federal Building in Dallas to draw the attention of the world to the sufferings of Christians in Egypt and to call upon Muslim extremists to end the violence against their brethren in hopes that Copts in Egypt can enjoy the right to religious freedom.

They are also hoping that the Egyptian government will take serious steps to deal fairly with all the issues and matters of this crime and other religious freedom subjects, according to rally organizers.

An Egyptian court in the southern city of Assuit has acquitted four Muslims accused of killing 61-year-old Farouk Attallah on October 19, 2009.

This has been reported by Mary Abdelmassih in a story for the Assyrian International News Agency who said, In broad daylight and in full view of witnesses, the killers fired 31 bullets to his head before beheading him, in the busy village market place of Attaleen. The dead body was then dragged in the street, accompanied by shouts of victory.

The judge presiding over the court on February 22, said that he was not satisfied that the testimony of the witnesses established that the imprisoned men were the killers. After the acquittal of Mohamad, Ashraf, Osama and Ahmad Hassouna, there was jubilation in the court room, with shouts of 'Allah is Great' and congratulations from all Muslims, including members of the state security forces who were present.

She said that Christians were enraged over the acquittal, since similar cases would result in life imprisonment or execution for a Copt if the victim was a Muslim and came as another wake-up call to many Copts in Egypt.

According to Peter Sarwar, the plaintiff's attorney who told Mariam Ragy of Katiba Tibia Coptic site, It sends a clear message that Coptic blood is extremely cheap. This acquittal will make permanent the present culture of impunity enjoyed by Muslim aggressors against Copts.

Sarwat asserted that he will appeal the ruling. We cannot remain silent over this verdict as it has very serious implications for all Copts in Egypt. He added: It is not safe for Copts now, as any Muslims who wants to get rid of a Copt, would kill him, knowing well that in the end he will be acquitted.

Dina el-Gowhary, the 15-year-old Egyptian Muslim-born girl who converted to Christianity, was subjected to an acid attack, the latest in a string of failed attempts by Muslim fanatics against her and her father Peter Athanasius, who converted to Christianity 35 years ago.

Several Fatwa's were issued calling for the spilling of his blood, which makes their lives in constant danger in the face of the reactionaries and advocates for the enforcement of Islamic apostasy laws, which call for the death of a convert.

Dina said that three weeks ago as she ventured out from their hiding place in Alexandria with her father to get some bottled water, her jacket was set on fire due to acid being thrown at her. My father quickly took my jacket off before the fire reached my arms. Ever since then I am terrorized to go out in the street, with or without my father.

Through an aired interview with Freecopts advocacy Dina addressed an open letter to President Mubarak of Egypt begging him to save her and her father and allow them to leave Egypt.

In her letter to President Mubarak, Dina expressed her deep distress at the mistreatment and continuous troubles she finds everywhere she goes, including being beaten and humiliated. She tells of how because of her love for Jesus she left her Muslim mother and went to live with her Christian father, abandoning school where she was persecuted by teachers and students. I was threatened many times before. Once coming back from school, a bearded young man stepped out of a car, lifted me through my clothes from the ground and warned me that if my father and myself do not go back to Islam, both of us will be killed.

In June 2009 a Court refused his request to order the Civil Registry to alter his religious designation on his ID to reflect his Christian religion and his Christian name, Peter Athanasius. The Court ruling said that the religious conversion of a Muslim is against Islamic Sharia law and poses a threat to the Public Order in Egypt.

The el-Gowhary family was barred from leaving Egypt on September 17, 2009 without any legal reason. They were told, however, that the order came from a higher authority.

The latest in a string of failed attempts by Muslim fanatics on the life of Egyptian Muslim-born Maher el-Gowhary who publicly converted to Christianity in 2008, took place on Sunday July 5, 2010.

As Maher left his secret lodging, somewhere in metropolitan Cairo with his lawyer, two unknown men on a motorbike, attacked him with daggers. They were aiming at my neck to behead me, said Maher in an interview with the newly launched US-based Hope Coptic TV Channel. Something inspired me to turn and give them my shoulder, instead of facing them, which was lucky.

He said that he fell to the ground covered in blood. Had it not been for the interference of passers-by who were unaware of my identity and my efforts to quickly stand up and defend myself, I would have been dead by now, he said.

During the attack, one of the men shouted the Islamic Jihadi cry of Allah is Great, while stabbing him. The attackers called him an infidel, and cursed his Christian faith. Maher said that he was left with heavy wounds, however, he fears seeking medical treatment. He condemned the negative attitude of the Egyptian authorities and held responsible for the attempts made on his life the religious leaders who call for the killing of others just for being non-Muslims.

Shortly after his conversion to Christianity became public, Maher and his 15-year-old daughter Dina, who also converted to Christianity, were forced into hiding. They have been living on the run, changing lodging as frequent as once or twice a month for fear of their identity being discovered.

The Fatwa issued by Sheikh Youssef El-Badri calling for the shedding of his blood, caused them to live in constant danger in the face of the reactionaries and advocates for the enforcement of Islamic apostasy laws, which call for the death of a convert.

Coptic Christians in the Upper Egyptian village of el-Nowahed, Abu-Tesht, in Qena Province, were victims of an attack by a Muslim mob of nearly one thousand on November 15. The attack started at nearly 10pm on Monday evening and lasted until the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The large mob of Muslims from el-Nowahed and the surrounding villages besieged and waged an attack against Coptic homes amidst cries of Allah is the greatest and other Islamic Jihadist slogans. They threw fireballs, gasoline and stones at Coptic homes and detonated Butane Gas cylinders. Christian-owned homes were looted and shops were broken into, plundered and burned. There were no reported casualties.

The attack resulted in the burning of twenty-two Coptic-owned homes, two commercial shops, a bakery, as well as livestock.

The sound of automatic weapons fired in the air was heard, to terrorize and intimidate the Copts, according to Ra'fat Samir, who heads the Luxor branch of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights.

Security forces were able to impose order a few hours later, and a curfew was imposed on el-Nowahed village and the city of Abu-Tesht.

The rampage against the Coptic inhabitants of the village came in the wake of a story which circulated in town three days earlier, about an affair between 19-year-old Copt Hossam Noel Attallah and a 17-year-old Muslim girl, Rasha Mohamed Hussein, a relative of the village mayor. According to Anba Kyrillos, Bishop of the Diocese of Nag Hamadi, some witnesses saw the teenage couple walking together towards the graveyards, after which it was rumored in the village that he raped her, although a Muslim woman confirmed that Hossam did nothing wrong to the girl, he said.

Update: Prosecutor Turns a Blind Eye

24th November 2010. Based on article from aina.org by Mary Abdelmassih

Police authorities in the Egyptian village rampaged by a Muslim mob on November 15, torching some 22 Coptic houses, came to the conclusion that the fires came about haphazardly as an act of fate. The Bishop of Nag Hammadi, Anba Kyrillos, rejected the police explanations of the cause of the fires, saying An act of fate caused 22 houses to be torched? An act of fate also caused torching of shops, a storage house and a large number livestock not near each other? He added that the two Coptic-owned fields and irrigation machinery were torched one day later, so was this also an act of fate?

The Chief prosecutor went to survey the damage in Al-Nawahed village, Abu-Tesht, in Qena province, 290 miles south of Cairo, but he refused to listen to any of the Coptic victims, speak to witnesses who saw the perpetrators or even register the names of the accused. The Bishop expressed anger at yet another injustice befalling the Copts, saying Does the chief prosecutor want to register the case against 'unknown persons?

The Bishop filed a complaint with the Attorney General against the chief prosecutor of Abu-Tesht for refusing to investigate charges brought by Copts against the Muslim perpetrators named by them, and asked for the re-opening of the investigation.

During the attack the Muslim mob threw fireballs, gasoline and stones at Coptic homes and detonated Butane Gas cylinders This video shows Muslims torching a Coptic Christian home while shouting Alahu Akbar and the terrified inhabitants of the home taking refuge on the roof of the burning house.

It was reported that State Security forced thirteen Coptic families to sign papers stating the fire happened as an Act of Fate and was extinguished by security and the village Muslims. Have you ever heard of such humiliation? said a Coptic victim Whoever refused to sign was beaten up. We were afraid to be detained by security, so we signed he added. He confirmed that the police know all of the perpetrators.

Muslim protesters in southern Egypt will continue their campaign of civil disobedience until the government removes a newly appointed Coptic Christian governor.

The protesters, many from the ultrarepressive Salafi school of Islam, have been sitting on train tracks, taken over government buildings and blocked main roads in the southern city of Qena, insisting the new governor won't properly implement sharia law.

Attempts by the newly appointed interior minister, who hails from the same area, to defuse the crisis were rebuffed and protesters insisted their sit-in would continue.

Since the Feb. 11 ousting of President Hosni Mubarak in popular protests, Islamist groups have have been flexing their muscles and are vowing to take a more active political role in Egypt.

Chinese police arrested the senior pastor of one of the largest unregistered churches in Beijing and have put many congregants under house arrest for trying to hold a Sunday service outdoors, said a rights group.

Senior Pastor Jin Tianming, who founded the 1,000-member Shouwang Church in the 1990s, was detained after his church intended again to attempt to hold worship service outdoors, according to Texas-based China Aid Association.

Last week, hundreds of church members were arrested and then released when they tried to hold service at an open-air venue.

Leaders of Shouwang Church have repeatedly asserted that the outdoor gathering is not politically motivated. They claim that their members are forced to worship outdoor because the Chinese government has prevented them from securing a permanent space for service.

In China, it is illegal to take part in religious organizations outside of the state-sanctioned faith bodies. For Protestant churches, this means they must register with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and China Christian Council (TSPM/CCC) in order to operate legally.

Christians Copts in the area of Embaba were attacked Saturday evening by Muslim Salafis. The attacks lasted for 14 hours. The Muslims fired guns and rifles and hurled Molotov cocktails at Coptic churches, houses and businesses. 12 Copts were killed and 232 injured.

The church of Saint Mina church was the first to be attacked. According to its pastor Fr. Abanoub the attack started at 5.30 PM on Saturday May 7, when church parishioners noticed a large number of Salafis, estimated at 3000 men, congregating near the church. Anticipating trouble, the army was called. The Salafis went to the church and asked to search it because they believed a Christian girl named called Abir, who had converted to Islam, married a Salafi and wanted to revert back to Christianity, was hiding inside the church. The Muslims circulated a rumor that the husband of Abir received a call from her asking him to save her as she was being tortured inside the church.

The governor of Giza said that there are no girls hiding in St. Mina Church. He falsely claimed that things were under control and a reconciliation meeting will be arranged for tomorrow. The army later cordoned off the entire district of Embaba.

Father Yohanna Mansour from Giza Bishopric confirmed that no one knows this alleged girl called Abir. He said the congregation was meeting at church and the Salafis wanted to break into the church and force a search to look for this alleged convert, he said in an interview with the Egyptian State TV. Muslims always come invited to church, but this would have set a precedent that Muslims would use to search our churches. He refused the reconciliation meeting and insisted on the application of the law.

According to Fr. Abanoub the Salafis started shooting at 5:30 but the army arrived at 10 PM. I called everyone, but no one bothered to come. He said six policemen came and left when they saw the shooting. There were also snipers shooting the parishioners from rooftops. I mourn all those young people who died. We now must ask for international protection.

The second church attacked by Salafis was St. Mary and St Abanob, also in Embaba. Muslims prevented the fire brigade from reaching it. Copts were also shot. This video shows the wounded brought inside the church.

The third church attacked was St. Mary Church in Wehda Street in Embaba, the ground floor of which was completely torched.

An apartment complex inhabited by Copts, near St. Mina Church, was set on fire after being looted. Another two houses were torched.

Youssef Edward, a deacon at St. Mina Church, said the army and security forces stood watching while Muslims threw Molotov cocktail at homes. He said the Muslims who attacked the church came from outside, as Muslims from the area live peacefully with them. The army was not able to control the situation, and the mob was chanting 'Islamic', 'Islamic'

Camelia Shehata, who the Muslims claim had converted to Islam and was held by the church against her will, appeared today on Hayat Christian TV and said Muslim claims are groundless and that she is 100% Christian. She denied that she had met any of the Salafi sheikhs who claimed they went with her to Al-Azhar to convert to Islam.

The unprovoked attack by Muslim Salafis on Copts in Embaba on May 7, which killed 14, injured 232 and destroyed two churches, was sparked by a Muslim man, Yassin Thabet, allegedly searching for his wife, who he claims was held captive and tortured by a church in Embaba, Giza. The woman was later identified as Ms Abeer Talaat, a Christian from Assiut in Upper Egypt, who converted to Islam in September 2010. Although still waiting for the divorce from her Christian husband to come through, she was also unofficially married to Yassin Thabet, a Muslim driver she knew from her village, and lived with him in Benha since her conversion to Islam, according the official Al-Ahram newspaper.

In the last few days a woman claiming to be Abeer Talaat gave several conflicting audio interviews to the media, never in person, except for the first one made with the radical Islamic al-Jamaa Islamia in Egypt.

In Abeer's first interview she claimed that after her conversion to Islam, her family handed her over to the Church in Assuit, where she was transferred from church to church until she was brought to St. Mark's Cathedral in Abasiyya, Cairo. They pressured me to abandon Islam and I pretended to agree because I was afraid they would harm me, Abeer said. She went on to say she was placed in a special home which was like a prison with iron windows, near St. Mina Church. Only a nun was to open the door just to provide me with food. They wanted to force me to change my papers in the civil registry to reflect reverting back to Christianity.

She said she called Yassin Thabet to save her.

In all other subsequent audio interviews on TV, she made changes to her original story, confirming she was not tortured in any church, and that she was at St. Mina's church and left when the fighting took place. In her last interview with Al-Jazeera the interviewer challenged her with questions, especially inquiring whether she stayed at the church by her own free will or not. She refused to answer this question. The full transcript of the interview is below.

With every interview she wanted to prove, through lies and allegations, that the church abducts Christian converts to Islam, locks them in churches and monasteries and tortures them until they agree to revert back to Christianity, said Coptic activist Mark Ebeid, which is what the Salafis have claimed over the last year in their protests for Camelia Shehata, the wife of the Coptic priest, as an excuse to search these churches.

Father Freij Fahmi, priest of St Mina Church denied Abeer's allegations, adding that the church does not detain anyone and our doors are always open. Besides if she came out of the church as she claims, why did she not identify herself to those who attacked the church and who were looking for her, so that they would have calmed down and stayed away from the church and all those Christians would not have been killed.

Ali Abdel Rahman, the governor of Giza, said after investigation There is no woman held captive in the Saint Mina Church in Embaba. Mohamed Ali, Imam of al-Toba mosque in Embaba, told elYoum7 on Sunday the story is a lie. Ali said he spoke Yassin Thabet before he went to church and he seemed to him hesitant and illogical. Yesterday the fact-finding committee of the National Council for Human Rights gave their report on the Embaba violence and among its findings it said that they could not verify Abeer Talaat's claims.

In an article titled Never mind about Camelia, take Abeer, published today Almasry Alyoum, renowned writer Khaled Montasar suggested that after the Islamists lost the case of Camelia Shehata, the priest's wife who they claimed had converted to Christianity and was being held against her will by the church, they manufactured another victim in the person of Abeer Talaat. Camelia came out of her self-imposed seclusion to confirm that she is a Christian and she never converted to Islam.

Yesterday forty six Islamist lawyers filed a complaint with the Attorney against Pope Shenouda III, demanding the Pope open churches and monasteries for inspection to verify of the existence of weapons, and illegal places for the detention of citizens.

This evening it was reported that Ms Abeer Talaat is to be detained for a fortnight, and may be charged, pending investigations, with incitement to sedition, claiming to be unmarried and instigating the events which caused killing of civilians in the clashes that took place between Muslims and Christians.

Update: Another Attack

20th May 2011. See article from christiantoday.com

At least 78 people have been injured in another round of clashes between Christians and Muslims in Egypt over the weekend.

Dozens were injured after Copts attacked during protests Christians have been protesting outside the state television building in central Cairo for the last week AP

Unidentified gunmen shot at Christians in the early hours of Sunday as they continued their sit-in in front of the state television building in Cairo.

In the latest clashes, Muslims reportedly surrounded the protestors in central Cairo before opening fire and hurling Molotov cocktails at them. Christians responded by throwing rocks and stones at the Muslims.

Father Mettias Nasr, one of the rally's organisers, told Al Ahram newspaper that five Christians had been shot, one seriously in the eye.

Christians in the Upper Egyptian village of Elmarinab, Aswan province, have been forbidden to leave their homes or buy food until they remove the dome of St. George's Church, which was rebuilt in its previous location.

Village Muslims, backed by Muslim Salafists from neighboring villages, have threatened to demolish the church on Friday September 9 after prayers and use it as a mosque.

Despite the presence of security forces, Muslims have blocked the roads to the village, refusing passage of any Christians under any circumstance.

The military governor in Aswan was contacted as Christians were starving in their homes. Security officers were sent and accompanied two Christian youths to buy food for the villagers. Muslims at the entrance of the village tried to stop the two security cars. Failing that they threatened that this would be the last time, said one villager. It was heart-breaking to see the elderly running with the children to get a loaf of bread.

On Friday September 2, a reconciliation meeting was held under the auspices of security between Muslims and Christians in which the Christians were forced to give in to the Muslim demands of the new church being stripped of crosses, bells and outside microphones (which churches never have).

For the sake of peace we agreed to their demands, said Father Makarios Boulos, although the approved permit included crosses, bells and domes.

On Tuesday evening, the same Muslims who attended the reconciliation meeting started to congregate near the church demanding the removal of the six small domes, which would, according to the church's priest, make the whole church collapse if removed. Muslims also demanded removal of any signs of it being a church. It has to be called a 'hospitality home,' Father Makarios said.

Confronted with escalating Muslim demands, the Bishop of Aswan, Anba Hedra, refused and warned those who incite sectarian violence, pointing to the fact that the church was rebuilt legally, and any concessions on the part of the church was done for the love for the country, which is passing through a difficult phase. The military council was asked to send troops to protect the village against Muslim violence

Early this morning two army tanks arrived at the village, manned by officers. The military governor paid a visit to the village together with area heads of security to solve this crisis.

They listened to the Muslims, who insisted the previous church was not a church, but a hospitality home. The Coptic side was represented by Father Makarious Boulos, Father Salib Elias of the Aswan Coptic Diocese and lawyers representing the church, who presented all valid documents.

Muslims chanted Allahu Akbar (Allah is the greatest) and said they want the church razed. Mikhail said Security tried to calm them down but fearing the situation would turn for the worse, the meeting was recessed with the promise that the army and security representatives will come to a solution acceptable to both parties before they leave the village.

The authorities demanded that no construction be carried out or services held in the church, and Muslims to refrain from violence.

The Egyptian Union of Human Rights Organizations (EUHRO) has published a report on emigration of Christians from Egypt, saying that nearly 100,000 Christians have emigrated since March 2011.

The report, which was sent to the Egyptian cabinet and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), warned that this emigration has been prompted by the escalating intimidation and attacks on Christians by Islamists.

Copts are not emigrating abroad voluntarily, said Naguib Gabriell, the director EUHRO: they are coerced into that by threats and intimidation of hard line Salafists, and the lack of protection they are getting from the Egyptian regime.

According to the report, the majority of Copts have emigrated for the US, with some 16,000 settling in California, 10,000 in New Jersey, 8000 in New York, and 8000 in other American states. Nearly 14,000 have gone to Australia, 17,000 to Canada, and 20,000 to the Netherlands, Italy, England, Austria, Germany and France.

EUHRO warned that emigration of Christians out of Egypt will threaten its demographic makeup and national economy. Copts constitute a strong pillar in the economy. said Gabriel: Copts who are leaving their homeland are not prompted by their need for work, as they are from the professional and business class, but from fear of the hard line Salafists.

Attacks on Copts and their religious institutions have spread fear, according to Gabriel. Recent attacks included the killing of Coptic youths in Moqattam and Embaba, cutting-off the ear of a Copt, attacks on churches, as well as preventing the governor of Qena from occupying his post because he is Christian.

Millions of people world-wide have seen videos of Egyptian Army trucks chasing and crushing Christian protesters under their wheels during the events of the Maspero Massacre on October 9, which claimed the lives of 27 and injured 329 Christians.

The ruling military council has denied that military forces used live ammunition against the Maspero protesters, or that personnel intentionally used armored vehicles to run over civilians. After blaming the Copts for using firearms, they later changed their story and put the blame on unidentified civilians who infiltrated the demonstrations, targeting both the peaceful protesters and the military police to cause a rift between the military council and the people. In all of its statements the military has cleared the army of any wrong-doings.

Evidence during the Maspero Massacre have now emerged which exposes the military police and state central security of committing other grave abuses against the Copts. These are war crimes, says Dr. Emad Gad, a scholar at Al-Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies, and Field Marshal Tantawi is responsible for it. He who issued this order should be prosecuted.

Video evidence has emerged proving that the so-called unidentified civilian element, or thugs as they are sometimes called and who are increasingly implicated in crimes by the authorities to shift the blame away from themselves, worked together with the military police and central security during the Maspero massacre. Although the assailants in the footage were careful not to be caught on camera, Muslim activist Galal Mohannad was on his way to Maspero when he stumbled on the evidence and secretly taped it on his phone, risking his life in the process. He passed through this road with its inspection points because he is a Muslim. On YouTube he titled it Bloody Sunday, thugs, police and army...one hand.

Coptic activist Mark Ebeid said that thugs are either security personnel in civilian clothes, or ex-prisoners on the security and police's list of dangerous criminals and they hire them to kill or do any dirty work for them, or radical Muslims, who are only to eager to oblige the police and satisfy their desire to kill Christians.

Renowned TV commentator Bilal Fadl of the independent Tahrir TV aired this footage of how the thugs were intercepting Copts in the streets and how on orders of the security they even went into the Hilton hotel and dragged Copts out. He also commented on how they were waiting for the Coptic demonstrators to arrive to attack them (video).

Thousands of Muslims attacked and besieged Copts in elGhorayzat village 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.

Muslims vowed not to bury Abdel-Nazeer until John Hosni is punished. Hosni fled from the village with his family, fearing a wholesale massacre of Copts, reported activist Mariam Ragy.

The events started on Monday, November 28, when John Hosni, a building supplier, had a quarrel with his neighbor, Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer, over some steel rods and cement Mr. Hosni had left in the street to use for erecting a wall around his house. This was perceived by Abdel-Nazeer as extending the home into the street, which is public property. Instead of reporting this building transgression to the police or local authorities, Abdel-Nazeer took the matter in his own hands and brought some Salafists and torched the store and the home of the Copt, said an eyewitness.

In the altercation between the neighbors, Hosni hit Abdel-Nazeer in the head with a wooden branch, which lead to his death later in hospital.

Angry Muslims murdered two Christian brothers, Kamel Tamer Ibrahim and Kameel Tamer Ibrahim, in revenge. The brothers were not a party to the altercation. Kamel Tamer, who was defending his shop from looting, was murdered in front of his wife. His brother was also murdered in front of his wife for defending his home (video of the murdered Copts. WARNING: contains highly graphic content).

Three other Christians, Maher Samir Gota, his wife, and his brother Osama Samir Gota, were severely injured and are in intensive care. They were in their homes when their shop was broken into and looted by Muslims. Maher and his wife were stabbed and Osama received a blow on the head. The ambulance could not go to them to transport them to hospital. He was privately transported by his friends. There were reports of Muslims preventing the fire brigades from reaching the burning homes.

After killing the Copts, Muslims went on a rampage, looting and burning Christian owned homes and businesses.

Despite killing the two Coptic brothers the Muslims insist they have not yet avenged Abdel-Nazeer's death.

This is not revenge; this is simply an excuse to kill people because they are Christians, as well as loot their property, said an eyewitness.

Security was present in all the streets, and protected the churches, but they did nothing in the face of Muslims killings, looting and torching of Christian property,, said another eyewitness, who managed to get out of the village by a miracle, as he put it, leaving all his belongings and money behind. We do not know whether we will be able to go back to the village as the Muslims refuse to bury the dead Muslim before killing all Copts in the village.

He added that Muslims are openly walking the streets carrying firearms and clubs while the police standby and do nothing. The number of police is not enough, there are 500 Muslims for every one policeman.

Copts have been prevented from fleeing the village by Muslims, who have imposed a blockade. Some were able to flee with the aid of some Muslims, who drove them out in a truck, telling the guards at the exit point these people have nothing to do with the ongoing problem.

The Cairo Criminal Court decided this week to accept the appeal and release, pending investigations, the remaining 27 Coptic detainees arrested in connection with the events of Maspero Massacre on October 9, where 27 Copts were killed and 329 injured.

This decision was hailed by the church and the various Coptic rights groups. Besides welcoming the decision of the civilian court as a just verdict considering that the detainees were all innocent, it showed, according to various Coptic organizations, the injustice of the military prosecution's investigations. A view shared among all Copts is that releasing the detainees is not enough, those responsible for the killings should be brought to justice.

The Maspero case was first brought by the military prosecution, but was later referred to state security interrogation upon an order from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Early last week, upon the request of the defendants' lawyers, the general prosecution transferred the case to an independent investigations judge.

The 30 Copts originally detained and the prominent Muslim activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, who is expected to be also released next week, were charged with the murder of one soldier, the theft of guns from the armed forces, and damaging private and public property. Two weeks ago three Christians minors, Abanob, Andrew and Hana, aged 16 and 17, who did not participate in the Maspero demonstration, but were arrested from the streets because their Christian tattoos, were released.

The Coptic Orthodox Church, which had previously demanded the release of the detainees, expressed its satisfaction with the verdict. However, outspoken Coptic Priest Filopateer Gameel, founding member of the Maspero Youth Federation, one of the organizers of the October 9 Maspero march, said Where is the accountability of the persons responsible for the blood that was shed in Maspero? adding that the decision to release the detainees confirms the fairness of the Egyptian judiciary, but it also raises questions about the circumstances under which the military police arrested them, and the unlawful renewal more than once of their detention by the military prosecution.

Fr. Filopateer demanded the prosecution of those responsible for the killing of civilians and of the person who gave orders on that night for the military armored vehicles to move to crush the Christian protesters under their wheels, referring to the report of the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights, which although could not identify those who shot at the demonstrators, confirmed that there were 12 dead people who were crushed by armored vehicles. He said We will not be happy just to get the innocent out of prison, , and this will definitely not be the end of the case; the authorities must be held accountable for the killing of the demonstrators.

Egyptian prosecutors ordered a Christian student be kept in custody for four days for posting images lampooning the Prophet Mohammed on his Facebook page, reported state television.

Jamal Masoud, a secondary school student in the southern Egyptian province of Assiut, faces charges of contempt for Islam, the report said.

Security and military troops have been deployed across Masoud's village and neighbouring areas after angry Muslims torched houses belonging to Christians, said the broadcaster.

Anger and frustration have risen among Egypt's Coptic Christians after the recent escalation of court cases against Copts charged with contempt of Islam. Copts accuse the authorities, including the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), of exercising double standards in the application of the contempt of religion law.

In the last month three cases have been brought against Copts, based on accusations mostly from postings on Facebook or Twitter of cartoons or comments deemed by Islamists as insulting to Islam.

Copts have received a barrage of insults to their faith and their symbols and have had churches torched and destroyed, and no one has done anything about it, said Dr Naguib Gobrail, head of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights Organizations. The law of contempt of religion is applied solely to punish the Copts.

The case against billionaire Naguib Sawiris, a Copt, for contempt of religion after tweeting cartoons, was heard on January 14 before a misdemeanor court in Cairo. The case was brought forth by Islamist lawyer Mamdouh Ismail and fourteen other lawyers, who filed a complaint accusing Sawiris of defamation of Islam and deliberately mocking Islamic symbols and attire.

Sawiris, who is also a top political figure and founder of the liberal Free Egyptians Party, had posted on his twitter account in June 2011 an illustration of Mickey Mouse with a beard and Minnie Mouse wearing a niqab (full face veil); it was accompanied by the comment Mickey and Minnie after. After the Islamist uproar, he apologized and if it was misunderstood and expressed his full respect for Islam and Muslims. He removed the cartoons, which he had originally copied from Saudi Arabian Internet websites. Islamist organized a boycott his mobile telecommunications network Mobinil, which lost over one million customers.

Three week ago Coptic student Gamal Masood (17), from the village of Bahig and Adr in Assuit province, was assaulted by his fellow students after the school social worker had printed and hung on a wall a web page from Facebook with the photo of Gamal and a drawing which Muslims regarded as that of their prophet. Although he denied the charge, violence and protests broke out in three villages. Muslims from the surrounding villages protested for two days. They torched his home, together with four other homes of friends and relatives. To calm them down, the head of security promised them that Gamal and his family would be evicted. It was decided that Gamal, also accused of causing sedition, would be handed over to prosecution, and he and his entire family would be expelled from the county. Moreover, it was decided that the priests in the area had to publish an official apology in all the media. The young student is still detained, and his trial is scheduled for February 7.

Coptic Romany Saeed Saad, from Marouf village, Edfu, in Aswan province, was condemned by Muslim villagers to be expelled from the village and forced to sell his home. He was accused of disrespecting Islam's prophet during a brawl with another Copt during which Romany allegedly cursed a prophet (it is not clear which prophet was referenced). The villagers sent a query to Al-Azhar Fatwa section on January 2, 2012 to seek their opinion. The Fatwa section answered that there was no blame as the quarrel was between two Copts and mentioning the word prophet does not mean it was the Prophet Mohamed. The Salafists in the village rejected this opinion and sought a second one, all the while preventing the return of the Romany family to their village.

At the end of November 2011 a Cairo court sentenced 23-year-old Copt Ayman Youssef Mansour to three years in prison for expressing opinions on his Facebook page which were considered derogatory to Islam and a threat to national unity. The verdict did not disclose what he said. The authorities tracked him down through his Internet address after receiving a huge amount of complaints.

Medhat Kelada, head of the Union of Coptic European Organizations for Human Rights (UCEOHR), criticized the Egyptian government believing that the law on the defamation of religion in Egypt applies to Christians only. Muslims disrespect and demonize the Christian faith openly in the media while the authorities look the other way.

Why has the law of contempt of religion not been applied to Salafist Dr. Borhamy, says Kelada, who issued a Fatwa two weeks ago for Muslims 'not to extend Christmas greeting to Copts' on January 7, 2012 (Coptic Christmas), but was applied to the Copt Ayman Youssef Mansour, who is serving a three-year prison term for expressing anti-Islamic opinions on the web? Why bring a case against Sawiris while Borhamy is left unchecked and is still insulting Christianity and calling Copts non-believers who ought to be ostracized in the media?

A Muslim mob attacked Copts in the Upper Egyptian village of Rahmaniya-Kebly, Nag Hammadi, Qena province, destroying and torching their homes, straw huts and shops, while chanting Allahu Akbar. No one was reported killed or injured. According to reports, security forces were present but did not intervene and the fire brigade arrived 90 minutes late.

An eye-witness said that a straw hut belonging to a Copt was torched to clear the area for a mosque. There are more than 300 mosques in the village and one church.

According to Coptic residents, the reason behind the violence was the parliamentary elections. The Salafists wanted to prevent Copts, who number more than 50% of the inhabitants (20,000), from voting because they intended to vote for two moderate Muslims and not the Salafi candidates. No Copt from Rahmaniya-Kebly was able to vote today, so the Salafists will win the elections, said a witness. Copts were forcefully prevented from voting.

In another incident, a large number of Salafis and members of the Muslim Brotherhood entered the Abu Makka church, in Bahteem, Shubra-el-Khayma, Qaliubia province, and informed the congregation that the church has no licence and no one should pray in it. One Muslim said the 1300 square meter church would be suitable for a mosque and a hospital.

Bishop Marcus of Shubra el Khayma was scheduled to inaugurate the incomplete church and celebrate the Epiphany mass in the evening. According to Coptic witnesses the Bishop cancelled the festivities, which angered the congregation, who were not informed of the reason.

A mob of over 3000 Muslims attacked Copts in the village of Kobry-el-Sharbat, Alexandria. Coptic homes and shops were looted before being set ablaze. Two Copts and a Muslim were injured. The violence started after a rumor was spread that a Coptic man had an allegedly intimate photo of a Muslim woman on his mobile phone. The Coptic man, Mourad Samy Guirgis, surrendered to the police for his own protection.

According to eyewitnesses, the perpetrators were bearded men in white gowns. They were Salafists, and some of were from the Muslim Brotherhood, according to one witness. It was reported that terrorized women and children who lost their homes were in the streets without any place to go.

According to Father Boktor Nashed from St. George's Church in el-Nahdah, a meeting between Muslim and Christian representatives was supposed to take place in the evening in Kobry-el-Sharbat. But, by 3 P.M. a Muslim mob looted and torched the home of Mourad Samy Guirgis, as well as the home of his family and three homes of Coptic neighbors. A number of Coptic-owned shops and businesses were also looted and torched. We contacted security forces, but they arrived very, very late, Said Father Nashad. The fire brigade was prevented from going into the village by the Muslims and the fires were left to burn themselves out. Those who lost their home, left the village, said Father Nashed.

A mob of nearly 2,000 radical Muslims, mainly Salafists, set fire to the Church of St Mary and St Abram in the village of Meet Bashar, Sharqia province. The area has been the scene of clashes between Muslim extremists and Christians. Calm returned to the area after mediation by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, who convinced the Salafists to leave the village.

The violence was caused by the disappearance of Rania Khalil, a Christian teenager who went missing last Sunday. Her father is a convert to Islam. She was found today and is in police custody. She and her mother will be interrogated by police. Salafists claim she was abducted by Christians to prevent her conversion to Islam.

Since the victory of Islamist parties in Egypt's recent elections, anti-Coptic attacks have increased across the country.

On April 24 the panel of judges appointed by the Egyptian minister of justice to investigate the Maspero massacre of October 9, 2011, which claimed the lives of 27 Christians and injured 329, closed the case.

In his 'explanation' of the verdict, judge Sarwat Hammad said the case was closed for lack of identification of the culprits who killed the army conscript Mohammad Shata and nine protesters (all Christians) with ammunition, as well as attempting to break into a government building and assaulting military personnel.

Charges against 28 Christian Copts and prominent Muslim activist Alaa Abdel-Fatah, who were previously detained, were also dropped for lack of evidence, said the judge. According to their defense lawyers, most of the detainees were arrested after October 9, and some were not even at the Maspero protest and were collected from the streets for just being Christians.

Commenting on the panel's report, attorney Said Fayez, one of the Maspero defense team, said sarcastically I am happy that we were able to prove the innocence of the Coptic defendants of killing their Coptic brothers. He said the rights of those killed have been denied by a judiciary that is just filling space. We said all along that it was just a show and this is the outcome we got, but the families of the victims will never forsake the rights of their children. He vowed to continue with the case until the victims receive justice.

The second part of the case is the trial by a military court of three conscripts, who were driving the military armored vehicles which crushed 14 Copts under their wheels. They are charged with involuntary manslaughter, a misdemeanor which under the Penal Code carries penalties of imprisonment of not more than seven years. Eyewitnesses and video clips showed the armored vehicles chasing protesters over the pavements. On April 12 lawyers representing the Maspero victims and prominent human rights organizations quit the military trial, accusing the court of bias.