Egypt: Murderer of Alexandria Priest Receives Death Sentence

Father Arsanios Wadeed Rizkallah, priest of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Karmouz (Twitter)
Father Arsanios Wadeed Rizkallah, priest of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Karmouz (Twitter)
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Egypt: Murderer of Alexandria Priest Receives Death Sentence

Father Arsanios Wadeed Rizkallah, priest of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Karmouz (Twitter)
Father Arsanios Wadeed Rizkallah, priest of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Karmouz (Twitter)

An Egyptian criminal court on Saturday sentenced to death by hanging the defendant in the murder of Father Arsanios Wadeed Rizkallah, priest of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Karmouz.

Last month, the criminal court in Alexandria asked the country’s top mufti, the highest religious authority for Islam, to weigh in on the case of the defendant who is accused of stabbing to death the Coptic Christian priest.

A decision from Grand Mufi Shawky Allam on whether the suspect should be given the death penalty and executed is a non-binding opinion, but it significantly influences the court’s ruling.

During previous sessions, the court examined videos of surveillance cameras, which monitored the accused during his attack on the victim on the evening of 7 April as he was walking along the Mediterranean corniche in Alexandria’s Sidi Bishr District.

The priest’s killing had sparked widespread discontent in Egypt while security and judicial authorities began investigations.

The Coptic Orthodox Church said the victim was attacked with a sharp object in the neck.

Several Islamic institutions, including Egypt’s Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayyeb offered their condolences to Head of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros and Christians over the murder of Arsanios Wadid.

Initially, the accused confessed to attacking Arsonios, but he later claimed that he was not conscious while committing the crime and that he suffered from mental disorders ten years ago that affect his actions.

Egypt’s Prosecutor General Hamada el Sawy had ordered jailing the accused pending investigations, along with placing him under medical observation in a public hospital specialized in the mental diseases.

But after listening to the testimonial of nearly 17 eyewitnesses of the incident and receiving the reports of the Forensic Medicine Authority and the Alexandria Poison Center regarding the anatomical characterization of the victim’s body, Egypt’s Prosecutor ordered referring the accused man to the criminal court for trial.



US Launches Airstrikes on Military Targets of Houthis in Yemen

Smoke rises after US strikes in Sanaa, Yemen, December 31, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises after US strikes in Sanaa, Yemen, December 31, 2024. (Reuters)
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US Launches Airstrikes on Military Targets of Houthis in Yemen

Smoke rises after US strikes in Sanaa, Yemen, December 31, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises after US strikes in Sanaa, Yemen, December 31, 2024. (Reuters)

The US military has launched airstrikes targeting military facilities belonging to Yemen's Houthi militias in capital Sanaa.

US Navy ships and aircraft targeted a Houthi command and control facility and advanced conventional weapon production and storage facilities that included missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles, the Central Command said.

It said the facilities that were hit were used in attacks against US Navy warships and merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. US Navy and Air Force aircraft also destroyed a Houthi coastal radar site, seven cruise missiles and UAVs over the Red Sea, it said.

The Houthis have been firing drones and missiles at Israel, as well as attacking shipping in the Red Sea corridor — attacks they say won’t stop until Israel agrees to a ceasefire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis' media office said Tuesday that 10 airstrikes hit the May 22 facility in Sanaa’s northern Thurah district and two more hit the Aradi facility, which houses the militias’ so-called defense ministry in central Sanaa.

Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Houthi chief negotiator and spokesman, called the strikes “a gross violation of the sovereignty of an independent state.”