By BosNewsLife Middle East Service
CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)– An Egyptian Christian who was shot in the head by a suspected Islamic extremist in Libya has died of his injuries, family members said.
Salama Fawzy Tobia died early Saturday, March 15 in El Raey El Saleh Hospital in Samalut in Egypt’s, Minya Province , reportedly with his brother watching over him.
The young man, who was attacked March 2, was 23.
His death came as a further setback for the Coptic Christian community, which has complained of growing attacks in the Middle East and North Africa.
PAYMENT SOUGHT
Hany Ramsis, a Coptic lawyer, had demanded the Egyptian government to pay for medical treatment of Salama Fawzy Tobia. In published remarks the lawyer said the family “is too poor to pay for his medical treatment.”
His family had transported Tobia back to Egypt after the Egyptian government, on a doctor’s recommendation, reportedly refused to assist in returning him to his country.
The injury to his brain essentially left him in a coma until he died, according to Christians familiar with the situation.
As he faded, his family reportedly sat a silent vigil over him in shifts.
Christians, mainly known as Copts, comprise roughly 10 percent of Egypt’s mainly Muslim population.
(BosNewsLife, the first truly independent news agency covering persecuted Christians, is ‘Breaking the News for Compassionate Professionals’ since 2004).
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