Unidentified armed men have kidnapped four Copts from the Abu Tig Center of Assiut province [governorate] in Upper Egypt on their way back from Libya on Tuesday morning.
Rashed Marcus Suriel, maternal uncle of the kidnapped Copts said that the unknown armed men obstructed the path before the bus his relatives were on as they returned from Libya, about half a kilometer after they crossed the Libyan border. He added, “The militants demanded they disembark, threatening the bus driver to shoot if he did not drive off immediately.”
He went on: “My four relatives were the only Christians on the bus”, clarifying that he learned of their kidnap through a Muslim friend of their male maternal cousin, who was on the bus during the incident. He called our relative in Libya, who in turn notified us in Egypt of what had happened.”
The kidnapped men are Gamal Matta Hakim, Ra’fat Matta Hakim, Romani Matta Hakim and Adel Sedqy Hakim. Suriel emphasized that the family will be filing a report with the Department of the Interior, calling on the Secretary of State to “intervene to discover their fate, and work on bringing them back safely.”
