Egypt poised for Libya evacuations as Isis hostage photos emerge
Source: The Guardian
Egypt has offered to evacuate thousands of its citizens from Libya after Islamic State (Isis) released pictures showing 21 kidnapped Egyptian Christians paraded in orange jumpsuits.
Egypt said it had no choice but take urgent measures on Friday with Isis expanding fast across Libya, its war-stricken neighbour. “We are helping them,” Cairo’s foreign ministry spokesman, Badr Abdelatty, said. “If they would like to come back from Libya, we are facilitating their return to their home country.”
The Coptic Christian guest workers were kidnapped in Sirte, on Libya’s coast, by Isis units based there in two operations in December and January.
There have been demonstrations in Cairo by families calling for their release, but the government says it has had problems making contact with the abductors. “There should have been more attempts by the government to intervene,” Hanna Aziz, a fellow worker who escaped the Sirte kidnappings, said. “We are all Egyptians, regardless of our religion.”
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/13/egypt-libya-evacuate-isis-hostage-photos-islamic-state
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