Egypt forcing Shiites to renounce religious beliefs

By: Sultan Ahmed

CAIRO, Egypt: Egyptian authorities have released three Egyptian Shiites after they renounced their sect under duress, Shiite sources said Sunday.

According to reports the three men were freed last week after being held for eight months after security forces cracked down on Shiites in December accusing them of belonging to an illegal sect.

United Press International said Ahmad al-Nafees, Egypt’s Shiite cleric condemned authorities for forcing the prisoners to renounce their religion, saying it “takes us back to the Middle Ages.”

Official efforts to force fellow Shiites to change their religious beliefs were failing, said Al-Nafees, who is leading a campaign to legitimize the Shiite sect in Egypt. He termed those efforts “unwise” measures.

Egyptian powers that be have refused to comment about the charges, which were denounced by international human rights organizations.

Even though there is no official estimate of the number of Egypt Shiites, they are unofficially believed to total roughly 700,000 people.

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Shias in Egypt face persecution, curbs on practicing faith

CAIRO, Egypt: Dr. Saaduddin Ibrahim, director Ibn Khaldoun Center of Development Studies in Egypt said he held talks with the foreign affairs official in the campaign of US presidential candidate John Kerry and a group of assisting officials on four Arab issues: Palestine, Iraq, Darfur and democracy in the Arab world.

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