CAIRO, Egypt — A Coptic Orthodox bishop from Upper Egypt was slain outside Cairo, Egypt, on Oct. 12, the same day a priest also was attacked.
Bishop Samaan Shehata was killed after an assailant stabbed him in the head, neck and torso with a machete in the El Salam area near El Marg District on the outskirts of Cairo, according to local reports.
A security spokesman said the suspect, Ahmed Saeed Ibrahim, was mentally ill, but neighbors reportedly denied this, saying he was a Muslim who had been “radicalized” a year ago. Since then, they said, Ibrahim had begun praying in the street, shouting loudly and calling Christians infidels.
Another priest, whom local press identified as the Rev. Mikhail Melad Tawadrous, 67, of the Arch Angel Michael in Qoft, Qena Governorate, was seriously injured on the same day.
A Muslim vegetable vendor reportedly attacked Tawadrous with heavy objects, leaving him with cuts on his hand, bruises on his chest and blood in his lungs. When the priest called out for help, bystanders reportedly encouraged the suspect, Saad Mohamed Mahmoud Hassan, to kill him.
Hassan had been jailed before, and a few days before the attack, he had insulted another priest. Authorities reportedly tried to persuade Tawadrous to drop the charges, claiming that the attacker is mentally ill, and the priest refused.
Hassan was held for questioning and released. (MS)
Share with others: