Hundreds of citizens in the district of Arbaeen in Suez organized a funeral procession for a student killed by religious extremists on Sunday.
Ahmed Hussein Eid, an engineering student, was reportedly killed by hardline Islamists who refused to let him walk alone with his fiancée because it was a religious taboo.
The procession began at the victim’s house after Eid’s body was brought in an ambulance from Suez Canal University Hospital.
His father, Hussein Eid, refused to accept condolences before his murderers are brought to justice. He said his son was taking his fiancée home when three bearded motorbike riders stopped him and rebuked him for walking alone with his fiancée. He added that Ahmed argued with the three before one of them stabbed him.
A Facebook page for a group calling itself “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Authority,” likely modeling itself on Saudi Arabia’s religious police, claimed responsibility for the killing.
Many Islamist groups in Suez condemned the incident. “We will wait for results of the investigations. The Salafi Dawah and Nour Party has never adopted violence in their preaching mission, but rather good advice,” said Abbas Mohamed, a former MP for the Salafi-oriented Nour Party, who urged security authorities to quickly apprehend the murderers.
Suez security chief Adel Refaat said investigators are racing against the clock to arrest the killers
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
