AINA did a very important article on the facts on the ground as far as Egypt’s Christian community is concerned but it seems as if the website cannot load. So I will post some of the article here with the videos referred to, and a link to the whole article which will work once the site is back up.
The article is by Mary Abdelmassih
Secret Video Shows Egyptian Police, Security Staging Attack on Copts
(AINA) — Millions of people world-wide have seen videos of Egyptian Army trucks chasing and crushing Christian protesters under their wheels during the events of the Maspero Massacre on October 9, which claimed the lives of 27 and injured 329 Christians (AINA 10-10-2011).
The ruling military council has denied that military forces used live ammunition against the Maspero protesters, or that personnel intentionally used armored vehicles to run over civilians. After blaming the Copts for using firearms, they later changed their story and put the blame on “unidentified” civilians who infiltrated the demonstrations, targeting both the peaceful protesters and the military police to cause a rift between the military council and the people. In all of its statements the military has cleared the army of any wrong-doings.
Evidence during the Maspero Massacre have now emerged which exposes the military police and state central security of committing other grave abuses against the Copts. “These are war crimes,” says Dr. Emad Gad, a scholar at Al-Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies, “and Field Marshal Tantawi is responsible for it. He who issued this order should be prosecuted.”
Video evidence [above] has emerged proving that the so-called “unidentified” civilian element, or “thugs” as they are sometimes called and who are increasingly implicated in crimes by the authorities to shift the blame away from themselves, worked together with the military police and central security during the Maspero massacre. Although the assailants in the footage were careful not to be caught on camera, Muslim activist Galal Mohannad was on his way to Maspero when he stumbled on the evidence and secretly taped it on his phone, risking his life in the process. He passed through this road with its inspection points because he is a Muslim. On YouTube he titled it “Bloody Sunday, thugs, police and army…one hand.”
Coptic activist Mark Ebeid said that “thugs are either security personnel in civilian clothes, or ex-prisoners on the security and police’s list of dangerous criminals and they hire them to kill or do any dirty work for them, or radical Muslims, who are only to eager to oblige the police and satisfy their desire to kill Christians.”
Renowned TV commentator Bilal Fadl of the independent Tahrir TV aired this footage of how the thugs were intercepting Copts in the streets and how on orders of the security they even went into the Hilton hotel and dragged Copts out. He also commented on how they were waiting for the Coptic demonstrators to arrive to attack them (video).[below]
For the rest of this important article please visit AINA.10-10-2011 I am reliably informed that it should be back up soon.
