Beni Suef security forces surrounded St. George Church and St. Anthony Hall in al-Wastá after Friday prayers, in anticipation of an attack on the church by Salafīs and members of the Muslim Brotherhood following the disappearance of a Muslim student.
A citizen named Hātim al-Shāzlī filed a complaint regarding the disappearance of his daughter Rānā, a student at the Beni Suef Faculty of Arts, three days ago, and accused her Christian friend of being behind her conversion to Christianity. The angered family has granted the Beni Suef Security Department and the church three days to return the student to her family. According to Muhammad Mustafá, preacher at the local mosque, the missing girl has contacted her father twice, and has assured him that she is safe.
In a related development, security forces imposed a security cordon around a piece of land belonging to the Bibā Archbishopric. This comes after the Beni Suef’s Security Director received a tip revealing the intention of an individual named Abū Sayf Muhammad to build a church on said land. Abū Sayf Muhammad had begun gathering the proper licenses, but stopped due to popular anger. Dozens of Copts and a number of bishops gathered in front of the Security Department and protested the halting of the construction. Meanwhile, the Security Department confirmed in a meeting with the priests that the incident is under the investigation of prosecutors and the Department is committed to implementing a resolution.
In contrast, Maspero Youth Union announced its intention to organize a protest in front of the Information Office of the United Nations tomorrow evening to denouce the on attack of Saint George churches in Sohag Governorate, Kom Ombo (Aswan governorate) and Shubrā (Cairo governorate) (‘Amr al-Shaykh and ‘Imād Khalīl, al-Misrī al-Yawm, Mar. 2, p. 7). Read original text in Arabic.
