Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and Patriarch of St. Mark Diocese extended thanks to President Abdel Fattah El Sisi for his visit to the Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral to offer condolences over the beheading of 21 kidnapped Egyptians by Daesh terrorist group in Libya.
In a statement by the Orthodox Church Monday, the Pope extended thanks to Sisi over this kind gesture and his efforts for the sake of the martyrs.
The Pope also said that Sisi assigned Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim to head to Samallout in Minya, Upper Egypt to offer condolences to the families of the victims.
Sisi expressed during the Cathedral visit his heartfelt sympathy with the victims of this tragic crime, saying their families will receive all care from State bodies.
He added that such mean acts violate all teachings of divine religions and noble human values, stressing that these acts will not dissuade the Egyptians from pursuing their efforts to build their new State.
Twenty-one Egyptian Christians were kidnapped at the beginning of the year in the city of Sirte on the north coast of Libya. A jihadi website circulated photos in mid-January of kidnapped Egyptians.
A footage, released online yesterday, showed handcuffed hostages wearing orange jumpsuits being beheaded by their black-suited captors on a seashore in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.