Italy wants action on Christian rights

Italy wants action on Christian rights
ROME (UPI) -- The Italian foreign minister demanded action against persecution of Christians after another violent incident Tuesday in Nigeria.
Thirteen people reportedly were killed in an attack on a Christian village in central Nigeria, ANSA said. A few weeks ago in the Nigerian city of Jos, at least 80 people died in bombings and clashes between Muslim and Christian youths.
In the latest of a wave of attacks in the Middle East, a church in Alexandria, Egypt, was bombed on New Year's Day, killing 23 Copts.
''The dramatic news from Nigeria, where once again innocent lives have been destroyed by attacks targeting the Christian community, shows that the phenomenon of religious intolerance is widespread and of a vast scale,'' Foreign Minister Franco said. ''The international community cannot and must not close its eyes."
After the Alexandria bombing, Frattini said European aid should be tied to respect for human rights in countries where Christian minorities are under assault.
Frattini and his French, Polish and Hungarian counterparts have asked European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton to take up the issue at a Jan. 31 meeting of foreign ministers.

Copyright 2011 by United Press International

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1 dead, 5 wounded in Egypt train shooting
SAMALUT, Egypt (UPI) -- An off-duty police officer allegedly opened fire on a train in Egypt Tuesday, killing one Coptic Christian and wounding five others, the government said.
The Interior Ministry confirmed the shooting but it was unclear whether the alleged gunman, a Muslim, had singled out Christians, The New York Times reported.
The suspect was identified as Amer Ashour Abdelzaher and the person killed was Fathy Said Ebeid, 71, the Times said. The wounded included Ebeid's wife, three other women and a man.
The Los Angeles Times reported the Egyptian state news agency, MENA had quoted an Interior Ministry official as saying the police officer boarded the train, bound for Cairo from Asyut, in Samalut in Minya province and began firing a handgun. The newspaper said the gunman fled but was subsequently arrested.
The New York Times said police used teargas to disperse more than 200 protesters who showed up outside a hospital where the wounded were taken.
Egypt's Coptic Christian population has been on edge since a terrorist bombing of a church in Alexandria less than two weeks ago killed 21 people. No one has been charged in that attack, which occurred after an al-Qaida-affiliated group threatened attacks on Coptic churches in Egypt.
A report that one suspect died in police custody last weekend stirred demonstrations amid accusations the suspect had been beaten to death by police, the Los Angeles Times said.

Copyright 2011 by United Press International