The Islamic State group in Libya released a video on Sunday purportedly showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians, prompting Egypt's president to threaten a "suitable" punishment for the killings.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said his country reserved the right to "punish these murderers" as he called a meeting of security chiefs and declared seven days of mourning after the video was distributed by militants on social media.
The footage shows 21 handcuffed hostages wearing orange jumpsuits being beheaded by their black-suited captors on a beach the group said was in the Libyan province of Tripoli.
In the latest issue of the IS online magazine Dabiq, the group had said the same number of Egyptian hostages were being held in Libya.
The Coptic Church issued a statement saying it was "confident" the killers would be brought to justice as it confirmed those beheaded were Egyptian Copts, while Al-Azhar, the prestigious Cairo-based seat of Islamic learning, denounced the "barbaric" killings.
Egyptian state television broadcast some of the footage from the IS video without showing the beheadings but depicting the hostages marched along by their captors on a beach.
"Egypt reserves the right to respond in a suitable way and time to punish these murderers," a visibly angry Sisi said in a televised speech.
The security body that is meeting in Cairo includes Sisi, his defence and interior ministers and military commanders.
Egypt last year denied reports of having carried out air strikes on Islamists in Libya, but US officials said its ally the United Arab Emirates carried out the strikes using Egyptian bases.
French President Francois Hollande, whose government is poised to sign a deal selling Egypt advanced Rafale fighter jets on Monday, expressed his "concern at the expansion of Daesh in Libya," referring to the Islamic State group.
The group has been hammered by US-led air strikes in Iraq and Syria after it took over swathes of the two countries, and has active affiliates in Egypt and Libya.
Libya's embattled parliament, which is locked in a conflict with Islamist militias, expressed its condolences in a statement and called on the world to "show solidarity with Libya" against militants.
The UN's mission in Libya called for the group's actions to be "rejected and denounced by all Libyans".
Copts' killings a 'revenge'
Sunday's video, entitled "A message signed with blood to the nation of the cross", has a scrolling caption in the first few seconds referring to the hostages as "People of the cross, followers of the hostile Egyptian Church".
One of the masked captors, wearing a military uniform and pointing a knife to the camera said in English: "Today we are in the south of Rome, in the land of Islam Libya... the sea you have hidden Sheikh Osama bin Laden's body in, we swear to Allah we will mix it with your blood."
Al-Qaeda founder Bin Laden was shot and killed in a dramatic helicopter raid by US special forces in Pakistan in the early hours of May 2, 2011 and later buried at sea in an unidentified location.
After the beheadings, a scrolling caption on the footage said: "The filthy blood is just some of what awaits you, in revenge for Camilia and her sisters."
Egyptian women Camilia Shehata and Wafa Constantine were the wives of Coptic priests whose alleged conversion sparked a sectarian dispute in Egypt in 2010.
Shehata went missing for five days in July that year after a domestic argument before police found her and escorted her back home.
When she went missing, Coptic Christians staged protests, but when she was returned, Islamists took to the streets alleging she had willingly converted to Islam and was being held by the church against her will.
Wafa Constantine also went missing, in 2004, reportedly after her husband refused to give her a divorce. She was temporarily sequestered at a convent as reports of her conversion were circulated.
The latest IS video comes just days after the militants released footage showing the gruesome burning alive of a Jordanian pilot the group captured after his F-16 came down in Syria in December.
In January, the IS branch in Libya had claimed it had abducted 21 Christians.
AFP
Mon Feb 16 2015
A video image grab purportedly shows black-clad Islamic State (IS) group fighters leading handcuffed hostages wearing orange jumpsuits before their alleged decapitation. -AFP PHOTO/HO/AL-HAYAT MEDIA CENTRE
10 Berita Pilihan - (15 Ogos 2024)
Antara pelbagai berita dalam dan luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Pasukan PBB lawat Bangladesh, siasat pembunuhan protes pelajar
Pasukan penyiasat Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) akan melawat Bangladesh minggu depan untuk menyiasat ratusan kematian semasa protes yang diketuai pelajar baru-baru ini, menurut pegawai badan dunia itu pada Khamis.
Gempa bumi bermagnitud 5.7 gegar timur laut Taiwan
Gempa bumi berukuran 5.7 skala richter melanda daerah Timur Laut Taiwan pada Khamis.
Angka kematian di Gaza cecah 40,000 individu
Pasukan tentera Israel melakukan tiga pembunuhan beramai-ramai terhadap keluarga-keluarga di Semenanjung Gaza dalam tempoh 24 jam lepas, mengakibatkan sekurang-kurangnya 40 rakyat Palestin terbunuh dan 107 lagi cedera, menurut sumber perubatan.
Jepun tamatkan amaran gempa bumi mega
Dalam tempoh berjaga-jaga, Agensi Meteorologi Jepun tidak melihat sebarang pergerakan gempa bumi yang luar biasa atau kerak bumi.
Rakyat UK terancam dengan imigran rampas peluang pekerjaan
Bimbang golongan imigran akan merampas peluang peluang pekerjaan menjadikan rakyat United KIngdom terutamanya mereka yang mempunyai masalah ekonomi melihat imigran sebagai satu ancaman.
Parti Pheu Thai pilih anak perempuan Thaksin calon PM
Paetongtarn, 37, adalah anak perempuan kepada jutawan yang juga bekas Perdana Menteri Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra.
Pemilihan anak Thaksin sebagai PM Thailand dianggap tidak efektif
Pemilihan anak perempuan bekas Perdana Menteri Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, untuk menggantikan Srettha Thavisin sebagai Perdana Menteri negara itu dianggap sebagai tidak efektif.
Angka kematian di seluruh Semenanjung Gaza meningkat kepada 40,005, lebih 92,401 cedera
Perkhidmatan kecemasan masih tidak dapat membantu ramai mangsa dan membawa keluar mayat yang terperangkap di bawah runtuhan.
DNA mangsa kebakaran di Pagoh diperoleh, jenazah dijangka dikebumikan esok
Polis mengesahkan telah menerima laporan ujian asid deoksiribonukleik (DNA) dua mayat mangsa yang rentung dalam kebakaran rumah di Kampung Paya Redan, Pagoh, Johor Jumaat lepas.
Al-Sisi tolak penempatan penduduk Palestin di Mesir
Presiden Mesir Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pada Sabtu dengan tegas menolak sebarang penempatan warga Palestin ke negara itu, satu pendirian yang disokong oleh masyarakat antarabangsa.
Malaysia-Mesir komited eratkan kerjasama, teroka potensi industri baharu - PM Anwar
Kedua-dua negara komited untuk mengeratkan kerjasama dua hala dalam pelbagai bidang termasuk pendidikan, perdagangan dan pelancongan.
Morsi terima layanan buruk, kematiannya tragis - HRW
Human Right Watch (HRW) menuduh kerajaan Mesir pimpinan Presiden Abdel Fattah al-Sisi sebagai punca kepada kematian tragis bekas Presiden Mohammed Mursi.
Rakyat Mesir keluar mengundi hari ini
Walaupun berdepan bantahan daripada kumpulan hak asasi manusia, pungutan suara selama tiga hari itu dijangka meluluskan pindaan Perlembagaan yang bakal melanjutkan penggal pemerintahan al-Sisi.
Presiden Mesir angkat sumpah untuk penggal kedua
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi mengangkat sumpah sebagai Presiden Mesir untuk penggal kedua.
Fattah al-Sisi umum bertanding presiden penggal kedua
Pemerintahan Sisi telah membawa kestabilan kepada negara itu, tetapi pengkritik mengatakan popularitinya telah terhakis akibat pembaharuan ekonomi yang dibawanya.
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi jemput Mahmoud Abbas bincang isu Baitulmaqdis di Kaherah
Abdel Fattah mahu membincangkan kaedah berdepan krisis berkenaan tanpa menjejaskan hak rakyat Palestin untuk mewujudkan sebuah negara merdeka dengan Baitulmaqdis Timur sebagai ibu negara.
Wartawan Al-Jazeera dapat pengampunan Presiden Mesir dibebaskan
Presiden Mesir, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi memberi pengampunan kepada Fahmy dan Baher bersama-sama dengan 100 orang banduan pada Rabu
Morsi berdepan hukuman mati
Mohamed Morsi dipilih sebagai presiden dalam pilihanraya Parlimen Mesir yang pertama selepas kejatuhan Hosni Mubarak.
Sisi menang pilihan raya Presiden Mesir
Bekas ketua tentera Mesir, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi menang dalam Pilihan Raya Presiden, 11 bulan selepas menggulingkan bekas Presiden, Mohammed Morsi.