UK's Coptic Orthodox leader denounces killing of Egyptian priest

Bishop Anba Angaelos, the leader of the Coptic Church in the United Kingdom, has expressed his concern about the violence against the Christian community in Egypt after a priest was killed in a poor district of Cairo.

Fr. Samaan Shehta was reportedly collecting humanitarian aid for his parish in Beni Suef on Thursday when an assailant suddenly chased him and struck him in the head, neck and torso with a machete.

In a statement, Angaelos voiced out his frustration over the incident saying, "Another day in Egypt with another Coptic Christian murdered."

"I am sure that I am not alone in my anger, but that it is shared by every law-abiding person of any belief and indeed of none, who has witnessed this vicious and inhumane attack," he added.

Angaelos said that he was concerned about the reaction of Egyptian authorities to the attack, claiming that it had taken an hour for an ambulance to arrive as the priest lay dying on the street.

The bishop also noted that the crime scene was not secured and forensic evidence was not collected, adding that the attacker was immediately declared mentally incapable without a professional diagnosis.

"I pray for the wider Egyptian Christian community that feels more and more vulnerable and targeted daily against a backdrop of negligence and injustice. I pray for the wider Egyptian society, that becomes more and more discredited and compromised as these incidents continue to happen," Angaelos said, as reported by BBC.

Some neighbors have reportedly denied that the suspect, Ahmed Saeed Ibrahim, was mentally ill, saying he was a Muslim who had been "radicalized" a year ago, when he allegedly began praying in the street, shouting loudly and calling Christians infidels.

Witnesses said that the assailant forcibly stopped Shehata in his car and told him to get out before stabbing him in the neck and torso. When the priest fled, Ibrahim followed him into a warehouse and proceeded to attack him with several blows to the head.

Security camera footage showed Ibrahim walking calmly out of the warehouse after killing the priest. He was reportedly captured by people on the street and taken into custody, but the motive for the attack has not been established.

Shehata's driver, Gerges Kamel, said that the ambulance did not arrive until 90 minutes after the attack, noting that the priest was alive for half an hour after being stabbed and could have been saved if the ambulance had arrived on time.

Reports from local media have indicated that Ibrahim, 19, had joined a Salafi jihadist group three months ago. After his arrest, a piece of paper was reportedly found in his pocket that said, "the mission is done successfully."