Christian Egyptians prior to their murder by IS militants in Libya – File Photo
CAIRO – 7 October 2017: Egypt has requested from the Libyan authorities to extradite Egyptian militants affiliated to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group over involvement in killing 21 Christian expats, a senior Egyptian official told Egypt Today on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to brief the media, on Saturday.
Egyptian militants would be prosecuted in Egypt after being extradited, the source added, noting that Public Prosecutor Nabil Sadek filed a motion requesting the activation of the legal assistance agreement between both countries, allowing the defendants be extradited as soon as possible.
The Egyptian government confirmed on Saturday that the Libyan authorities have found the bodies of the Egyptian Christians who were killed by IS in 2015, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid told Egypt Today.
Abu Zeid stated that the Egyptian Embassy in Libya coordinated with the Libyan authorities to secure the return of the dead bodies to Egypt in a few days.
IS released a video on February 15, 2015 showing Egyptian Coptic Christians, who were constructions workers, in orange jumpsuits being led along a beach, each accompanied by a masked militant. Later in the video, the men are made to kneel as another militant addressed the camera in English before the men are simultaneously beheaded.
Once the branch of the IS group in Libya released the video, the Egyptian National Defense Council, after holding a meeting with the President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, took the decision to launch airstrikes of alleged havens of the IS group in Libya’s eastern city of Derna.
The operation was conducted in cooperation with the Libyan Army using six fighter jets of F-16C block 52.
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