UN Security Council Condemns Murder of Egyptian Copts in Libya

UN Security Council condemned the killing of 21 Egyptians in Libya by the ISIL militants after the release of the video.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — After the release of a video of the killing of 21 Egyptians in Libya by the ISIL militants, the UN Security Council on Sunday unanimously agreed to a press statement condemning the murders.

"The members of the Security Council strongly condemned the heinous and cowardly apparent murder in Libya of twenty-one Egyptian Coptic Christians by an affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Daesh). This crime once again demonstrates the brutality of ISIL, which is responsible for thousands of crimes and abuses against people from all faiths, ethnicities and nationalities, and without regard to any basic value of humanity," the Security Council statement Sunday said.

"The members of the Security Council stressed again that ISIL must be defeated and that the intolerance, violence and hatred it espouses must be stamped out," the statement said.

The Security Council also demanded the immediate and safe release of all the other hostages kept by "ISIL, Ansar Al Sharia entities, and all other individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities associated with Al-Qaida."

On Sunday it was reported that a group of Egyptian fishermen, all Coptic Christians, was abducted by the armed militants in Libya. Later in the day the ISIL militants have released a video showing the execution of the hostages.

Hours after the tragedy, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi addressed the nation stating that Cairo reserves a right to respond to the act of violence the way it sees fit. He also said measures will be taken to prevent Egyptians from travelling to Libya.