A visit by rights activists and media persons to the Upper Egyptian Minya village of Dalaga, which was planned for Wednesday 24 July, was cancelled when Minya Security said it could not guarantee the safety or security of the visitors
A visit by rights activists and media persons to the Upper Egyptian Minya village of Dalaga, which was planned for Wednesday 24 July, was cancelled when Minya Security said it could not guarantee the safety or security of the visitors, and warned of bloodshed if the visitors are attacked by Mursi supporters in the village.
The rights and media people were to visit Dalaga’s Coptic victims of the attack that had taken place against them on 4 July following the overthrow of Muhammad Mursi and the Muslim Brothers. On that day, the guesthouse owned by the Coptic Catholic Church was attacked and plundered. The priest, who resided there, was rescued by the neighbours who let him flee across the adjacent rooftops. Three Coptic-owned houses were ruined and set ablaze. And, to inflict terror in the hearts of the Copts who had stayed in the [relative] safety of their homes, the Islamists went about banging at the Copts’ doors and windows with clubs, and screaming threats.
The rights group Shaifinkum, literally “We can see you”, denounced the failure of Minya security, and said it posed questions of who had the upper hand in Upper Egypt.
Watani International
24 July 2013