Egypt: Two Christians condemned to death

  1. Posted on Thursday 19 November 2009 - 12:30
    KingsleyKobo
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    Kingsley Kobo, AfricaNews reporter in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
    Two men believed to be Christians have been sentenced to death in Egypt for killing a Muslim man who married one of their relatives. Rami and Raafat Khella, the brother and uncle of Mariam Atef Khella, stormed her home in Cairo last year and opened fire on her husband, Ahmed Sallah.
    Hanging
    Khella, who was a Christian, got converted to Islam three years earlier in order to marry Sallah, a situation which was against the wishes of her family, the BBC said.

    Khella and her baby daughter, Nur, were also wounded in the attack that left her husband’s body riddled with bullets.

    The death sentence will now be reviewed by Egypt's Grand Mufti, Ali Gomaa - the highest authority on Islamic law.

    Egyptian Christians make up around 10% of Egypt's 80 million population and most of them belong to the Coptic denomination.

    They often complain of discrimination and harassment, but researches have shown that they live harmoniously in the majority Muslim country.

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