Kidnappings Targeting Christians On The Rise In Egypt

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi wasn’t joking …

Mining Gazette – “Ezzat Kromer’s resistance to his kidnappers did not last long. One of the masked gunmen fired a round between his feet as he sat behind the wheel of his car and said with chilling calm, ‘The next one will go into your heart.’

The Christian gynecologist says he was bundled into his abductors’ vehicle, forced to lie under their feet in the back seat for a 45-minute ride, then dumped in a small cold room while his kidnappers contacted his family over a ransom.

For the next 27 hours, he endured beatings, insults and threats to his life, while blindfolded, a bandage sealing his mouth and cotton balls in his ears.

Kromer’s case is part of a dramatic rise of kidnappings targeting Christians, including children, in Egypt’s southern province of Minya, home to the country’s largest concentration of Christians but also a heartland for Islamist hard-liners.

The kidnappings are mostly blamed on criminal gangs, which operate more freely amid Egypt’s collapse in security since the 2011 fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Crime has risen in general across Egypt, hitting Muslims as well. But the wave of kidnappings in Minya has specifically targeted Christians, and victims, church leaders and rights activists ultimately blame the atmosphere created by the rising power of hard-line Islamists.

They contend criminals are influenced by the rhetoric of radical clerics depicting Egypt’s Christian minority as second-class citizens and see Christians as fair game, with authorities less likely to investigate crimes against the community.

Over the past two years, there have been more than 150 reported kidnappings in the province — all of them targeting Christians, according to a top official at the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the police.

Of those, 37 have been in the last several months alone …” Read more.

• Flashback: Egypt: Christian Girls Kidnapped by Islamists and Forced to Convert to Islam
• Flashback: Egypt: Christian Boy Kidnapped At Knifepoint, Abductors Open Fire On Church
• Flashback: Egypt: Salafistists Kidnap 13-Year Old Christian Girl, Attempt To Convert Her To Islam
• Flashback: Egypt: Christian Father Fights For Daughter Abducted By Islamists, ‘Become A Muslim And We’ll Spare Your Life’
• Flashback: Egypt: Muslim Gang Attempts To Kidnap Christian Mother, Kills Family Members And Threatens Coptic Community For Resisting