Until NATO backed an Islamist-led regime-change operation, Copts could find good jobs in Libya, it was reported in January.
However, Libya is no longer safe for Christians. On 23 December, two Coptic doctors in Sirte were shot and killed in their home in front of their children. Their teenage daughter was taken captive and her bullet-riddled body dumped in the desert two days later. On 29 December, seven Copts were abducted while driving back to Egypt from Sirte. Then, on 3 January, 13 Copts were abducted when jihadists raided the complex where they were living, calling for them by name. Expelled from the complex, the remaining Copts hid in farms until arrangements could be made for them to be smuggled out of Libya. On 12 January, the IS affiliate in Libya claimed responsibility, posting photos of the captives online (without any ransom demand) and boasting: ‘The soldiers of the Islamic State in the province of Tripoli hold captive 21 Christian crusaders’.
On 19 January, relatives of the abducted workers wept as they protested quietly outside the UN office in Cairo. Among them was Bisheer Estefanos, a farmer from Minya in Upper Egypt, whose brothers, Bishoy and Samuel, were among the captives. ‘All we can do is pray to God for help’, he said. ‘Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.’ (Psalm 54.4). A Libya researcher at Human Rights Watch, Hanan Salah, said, ‘It is extremely disturbing to see a group of people being apprehended simply on the basis of their religion. We have seen this trend before – others have been killed, arrested or kidnapped merely for the possession of a Bible or just for being a Christian’.
