Radical Moslems set fire to houses and drive out Bahá'í

The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) called on Friday on the Egyptian government to protect members of the small Bahá'í minority from attacks by radical Moslems and to enable the Bahá'í who have been driven out to return to their houses. It was reported that radical Moslems had set fire to four houses of the Bahá'í in the village of al-Shoraniya in the district of Sohag in Upper Egypt. Attempts to put out the fires were prevented by the mob. The buildings were destroyed, reported the Centre for Human Rights in Cairo. This organisation reported that the fires were laid last Monday and Tuesday following the broadcasting of a film by a local TV station in which the Bahá'í were accused of "impurity and un-Islamic” practices.

The 30 Bahá'í, who lived in al Shoraniya, fled. The police were called, but they took no action to protect the members of the minority. The police officers merely drove the attackers from the road. No one was arrested. Bahá'í have in the past been frequently attacked in this village. But the police undertook no investigations.

The religion of the Bahá'í was developed in Iran in the 19th century by its founder Baha’ullah from Shiite Islam. It has today about 7.7 million supporters. In Egypt there are about 2,000 Bahá'í. They have in recent years tried through the courts to promote their rights to acceptance and freedom of religion. These attacks have however destroyed all hopes of an improvement of their situation.