Egyptian soldiers kill 10 refugees

CAIRO, Egypt (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has condemned as unjustified the killings by Egyptian soldiers of between 10 and 20 Sudanese refugees in a wealthy Cairo neighborhood.

The violence on Friday took place as the troops tried to force up to 2,500 Sudanese refugees from the capital's Mostafa Mahmoud Park where they had been living since September 29 to protest the U.N. refugee agency's refusal to consider them for refugee status.

They want to be resettled in a third country, such as the United States or Britain, rather than return home after a peace deal ended the 21-year-long civil war in Sudan.

Security forces began using water cannons to fire high-pressure streams of water at the refugees. When the protesters resisted, fighting back with sticks, security forces moved in, using force to drive the refugees onto buses.

The Egyptian Interior Ministry said Friday that security forces had killed 10 of the refugees, but health officials put the toll at 20 dead with more than 50 wounded.

Annan said he regretted that the situation was not resolved peacefully and through dialogue, as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had strongly urged, according to a statement from his office.

"The secretary-general was deeply saddened to learn of the violent deaths of a number of Sudanese migrants in Cairo today as a result of clashes with police.

"Their deaths are a terrible tragedy that cannot be justified. The secretary-general extends his heartfelt sympathies to the families of all of those who were killed and injured."

The commissioner, Antonio Guterres, also issued a statement expressing "deep shock and sadness."

"Although we still do not have all of the details or a clear picture of what transpired, violence left several people dead and injured," Antonio Guterres said in a written statement. "There is no justification for such violence and loss of life."

The Egyptian Interior Ministry spokesman said the Sudanese who died in the scuffles were "old and sick," adding that refugees pelted security forces with "bottles of alcohol."

The attempt to round up the protesters began around 1 p.m. local time and lasted several hours. At the end, the protesters were put aboard buses and taken to a camp south of Cairo.

Three Egyptian police officers and 20 Egyptian soldiers were also wounded in the clashes, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.

The authorities had long warned the migrants that the camp could not continue indefinitely. Journalist Shahira Amin, who went to the scene, said the refugees had been living in crude conditions in the park.

Guterres announced last week that it had reached a deal with some of the protest leaders, promising to resume hearing some migrants' cases and offering a one-time payment of up to $700 for housing in Egypt.

But most of the migrants rejected the deal, saying they wanted promises of resettlement abroad.

Coptic Christian Martyr Zaky, SABRY, Esq.	Rep. Frank Wolf meet with Coptic Christian Delegation, on Nov. 1St. 2005 From left: Mr. Morris Sadek, Rep. Wolf, Mr. Marcos Nashaat, and Rafique Iscandat

COPTIC VISA-NIX SCANDAL

NY Post
By NILES LATHEM

December 26, 2005 -- WASHINGTON — The State Department has launched an investigation into whether hard-line Islamic employees at the U.S Embassy in Egypt are working behind the scenes to deny visas to Coptic Christians, The Post has learned

State Department officials are closely examining 15 to 20 Egyptian employees of the embassy's consular section after top officials received complaints from lawyers and human-rights groups about discriminatory behavior toward the Copts seeking visas to the United States, sources said.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, may have been wrongly denied visas, sources said
In a recent meeting organized by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), top State Department officials were told that these employees, who conduct prescreening interviews and translations, appear to have unusual influence over a process that is supposed to be controlled by Americans.

"This is a widespread problem that we have been aware of for some time. Now, however, there are people stepping forward and are making formal complaints," said Father Keith Roderick, head of the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights, who attended the meeting.

Among those making complaints to the State Department is a Christian man who was seeking to donate a kidney to an uncle in New Jersey.

He says he was twice told to remove the cross he was wearing if he wanted a visa. He refused and was denied a visa.

Another is a woman who was scheduled to speak at a recent human-rights conference in Washington about what it is like to live in a Muslim-dominated country.

She claimed embassy officials demanded to see her speech.

She and two other Egyptian Copts were denied a visa while Egyptian Muslims were granted visas.

They have asked that their names not be made public for fear of retaliation in Egypt.

There have also been complaints that these employees keep posters in the embassy promoting supporters of the Hamas terror group.

"This should be a concern because if they can influence who they can keep out of the United States, they could also influence who can get in," said Caroline Doss, a Jersey City immigration lawyer who presented State Department officials with affidavits from Coptic Christian clients.

Wolf, who heads a subcommittee that controls the State Department's budget, had no comment because he is conducting a separate probe.
State Department officials wouldn't comment.