The UN Security Council condemned on Sunday the beheading of 21 Egyptian Copts in Libya by the terrorist Islamic State group, offering condolences to the families of the victims, people and government.
Ambassador Amr Abul Atta, Egypt’s permanent representative to the UN, said there had been coordination with UN Security Council members as well as the permanent representative of China, the current chief of the council, and the representative of Jordan, the Arab member of the council once the news was confirmed. The members subsequently issued a strongly-worded statement to condemn such a brutal terrorist act.
In a press statement, the UN "strongly condemned the heinous and cowardly apparent murder in Libya of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by an affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant."
“This crime once again demonstrates the brutality of IS, which is responsible for thousands of crimes and abuses against people from all faiths, ethnicities and nationalities, and without regard to any basic value of humanity,” it added.
The statement stressed the necessity to bring the perpetrators to justice, calling on all countries to cooperate with Egypt and the Libyan government in this regard.
On Sunday, IS released a video showing the murder of the 21 Copts who were kidnapped in January.
Edited translation from MENA
