Egyptian police investigate possible sectarian killing of two Coptic Christians

Two Coptic Christians were recently found dead in the southern village of el-Kosheh, the scene of one Egypt’s bloodiest sectarian massacres. Police last week began investigating the slaying, The Associated Press reported on October 5.

The two men Sadeq Ishaq, 45, and Karam Andraus, 40 “were found shot to death at their farm…240 miles (390 kilometers) south of the capital Cairo,” the article says, citing a police official. The official added that the authorities were trying to determine if the murders had a sectarian motivation.

In New Year’s Day 2000 incident in el-Kosheh, 21 Christians and one Muslim were killed when a sectarian dispute escalated into a full-scale armed battle.

Coptic Christians in Egypt generally live in peace with the Muslim majority, though the article states that “occasional clashes occur.”

“The Egyptian government is extremely sensitive to public discussions of treatment of its Coptic minority, insisting Christians enjoy the same rights as the Muslim majority,” the article says.

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