Muslim extremists are trying to empty a village near Alexandria of its Coptic, or Christian, population of 62 families. This is based on baseless accusations against a Copt. The Copts of Kobry-al-Sharbat in the al-Amiriya area were attacked on January 27 by a group of about 3,000 Muslims led by Salafist leaders. They set fire to the homes and shops of the Copts. The violence was sparked by accusations from a Muslim that a Coptic tailor named Sami Murad Girgis had "illegal" pictures of a Muslim woman on his cell phone, which he denied, turning himself in to the police station in fear for his life. The Muslims set fire to his house and shop and his entire family was forced to leave the village. Murad is still in police custody.
Since then, there have been three so-called "reconciliation meetings" at the al-Amiriya police station, attended by representatives of the Coptic Church, the Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood. According to the police, the woman in question has denied the entire story and no compromising images were found on Murad's cell phone. Yet radical Muslims claim that "Muslim honor has been insulted" and at the first meeting they refused to pay any compensation to the Copts who were the hapless victims of their violence.
On January 30, the same village was attacked again by a group of Muslims who set fire to three Christian homes. This happened in full view of the security forces. Subsequently, Islamist representatives have demanded that a rich Coptic merchant, Soliman, be expelled from the village. They accuse him and his sons of firing shots in the air while their house was being set on fire. The family of the merchant denies that shots were fired and no one was injured. However, police have issued an arrest warrant for Soliman's sons.
On February 1, a 'reconciliation meeting' called for the expulsion of a number of Christian families from the village and the forced sale of all Soliman assets. This was to be done under the supervision of Salafist religious leader Sharif al-Hawary. If this did not happen, Kobri-al-Sharbat would be attacked again and the Coptic houses burned to the ground. Soliman signed an agreement to this effect, which a local priest present, Father Boktor, characterized as "a total injustice." Soliman also agreed only to avoid further harm to the Copts. Magdi Khalil, head of the Middle East Freedom Forum, said that such "reconciliation meetings" are completely illegal and that the authorities are clearly complicit. He called on the Copts to return to their homes. "If we accept this, we open the door to an avalanche of forced displacement." Forced displacement is a crime under international law.
Source: AsiaNews
