Man sentenced to death for killing Christians (in Egypt)

[Turborama]

Source: CNN International

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- A man accused of killing Christians after a Christmas mass a year ago in Egypt has been sentenced to death, Egypt's state-run Al Ahram newspaper reported Sunday.

Mohamed El-Kamouny, one of three people accused in the targeted killing of members of the Coptic Christian sect after a Christmas mass, is the first to be sentenced.

Seven people were killed -- six Copts and a Muslim guard -- in the January 2010 incident outside a church in the southern town of Naga Hammadi. Coptics observe Christmas Day on January 7.

The judge who sentenced El-Kamouny postponed the sentencing of the other two defendants until next month, Al Ahram reported.

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/01/16/egypt.death.sentence/

[NaturalHigh]

1. Life in prison would have been a better punishment in this case.

Executing this murderer will most likely just throw more fuel on the fire. Let him rot in prison for fifty or sixty years, denied some perverse sort of martyrdom.

[rasputin1952]

2. That was my first thought as well...

denying martyrdom is essential in dealing with these situations.

[Lions_fan]

4. Martyrdom would imply most Muslim Egyptians agreed with his actions

Of course you have the fringe that does but i don't most Egyptian Muslims agree with his actions and that's evidenced by the thousands that showed up as human shields :headbang:

[rasputin1952]

5. I don't think so either, but shutting off...

the avenue to martyrdom has long reacting effects. After the "Blind Sheik", (can't recall the name), was sent to prison, he lost all perceived "power" and whatever prestige he had throughout the Muslim community. Simplistically, like the Japanese Code of Bushido, being a prisoner is often seen as worse than death. Naturally this doesn't pervade the entire Muslim faith, but many of the more radical imams use the same basic thing in recruiting individuals that are willing to blow themselves up. It's a complex situation that most Westerners can't understand, but most people never really listened to Sun Tzu when he said, "First, know your enemy".

Different cultures have vastly different views on so many things it's difficult to comprehend for most everyone outside of the culture. How do we explain human sacrifice? Sometimes we just can't because it is so deeply rooted in the specific culture. Egypt is far more sectarian than other Muslim nations, or even specific areas within other countries. I have always questioned any system of faith or sect that finds violence as an acceptable principle in advancing it's reach, and I have the utmost respect for those that protect others, regardless of the situation, religious or otherwise.

[Lions_fan]

6. Ok i get what you were saying

[NaturalHigh]

7. That is an excellent analysis of the situation.

[NaturalHigh]

8. True, most Egyptian Muslims don't agree with the acts of terrorism that we saw.

I agree that the Muslims who acted as human shields weere more representative of the community as a whole, and I didn't mean to imply that the people who committed the acts of murder were representative of all Egyptian Muslims.

[Name removed]

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