A number of criminals have specialized in executing such operations in collusion with the police, including a certain Nofal Rabie. The security forces sought Rabie’s help to eliminate a number of Jihadists, and in return allowed him to impose ransoms on Coptic dealers.
On December 1, 2011, unknown armed assailants stopped Pharmacist Michelle William and Dr. Magdy Helmy on their return home from work, kidnapped them and blackmailed their families. The families responded and paid 600,000 EGP to release them. This incident was the first in what became a growing trend.
The crimes continued to increase and the number kidnapped reached 36 individuals, including 34 people from Nag Hamadi, one from Dishna and one from Qena. Money paid as ransom to the kidnappers released the people of Nag Hamadi.
The incident pushed Nag Hamadi’s Bishop to hold a press conference inearly January to bring attention to the number of kidnappings that have targeted Copts and to pressure security forces to stop the phenomenon.
Observers described the repetition of kidnapping cases as a systematic attempt to drain the wealth of Copts, as the city includes a large number of wealthy Copts who have more money than influence. Copts frequently face attempts of blackmail from thugs, while similar crimes involving the kidnapping of Muslims are rare.
Coptic activist Hana Hassib said, “The spread of this phenomenon stems from the existence of a criminal hotbed in a number of villages in the area, including Homrat Dom, abu-Gazam and Balabish. These villages led many thugs to them to participate with then in their crimes, though the kidnapping incidents should not be attributed to only these villages.”
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http://www.mcndirect.com/showsubject.aspx?id=41635#.UQBi4aX3A_p (edited)