by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has published a video showing their execution of 62-year-old Coptic Christian Nabil Habshi, who was abducted by the terror group in Egypt in November last year, International Christian Concern reports. The video was published on April 17, and the family believes the killing took place in March or early this month.
Mr. Habshi’s family had received no news of him at all until the video was published. The executioners said they murdered Habshi because Christians (especially the Orthodox Church) are associated with the Egyptian army, ICC reports.
Commenting on the alleged association between Christians and the Egyptian government, ICC noted in its report that: “There is a level where Egypt’s Christian population is forced into a choice between either ISIS or living with the government. Neither one, however, is a model for human rights.” Rights groups say Egypt has abused its citizens’ human rights on the grounds of defending against ISIS.
Moreover, questions have been raised as to how much the Egyptian government knew about the whereabouts of Habshi and his captors. It appears curious that the Egyptian Ministry of Interior was somehow able to announce within 48 hours of the publication of the video that the government had killed three of the executioners, while there had been no news of him at all until the publication of the video.
In regard to Egypt’s conduct in this case, Claire Evans, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said in a statement that the international community must hold the government to account for any decision it made that contributed to the murder of Mr. Habshi. “How could they have gone from a six-month period of knowing nothing about the ISIS kidnappers to suddenly killing the involved ISIS members within 48 hours of the video’s publication?” Evans asked. “The difference between the kidnapping and the video’s publication is the international awareness of the problem, and thus it is the responsibility of the international community to call out this discrepancy and hold Egypt accountable for any decision that contributed to this moment.”