The European Parliament was handed a report on the disappearance and forcible conversion of Coptic girls by the the Coptic Organisations Union in Europe. Midhat Qilādah, head of the Union, said that some of the most important members of the European Parliament had answered that this (the abduction and forcible conversion of Coptic girls) is against the law. He also denounced calls that Copts take hostages to protect Copts in prison. In a strongly worded statement the Union said that persecution of Copts in Egypt was the result of the policies of the “racist and apartheid regime of the Muslim Brotherhood”. The statement also called on the international community to condemn the “racist regime” (Peter Majdī, al-Tahrīr, May 11, p. 6). Read original text in Arabic.