GENEVA: The United Nations human rights chief on Tuesday condemned the mass beheadings of Egyptian Christians in Libya and urged Libyans to fight Islamist extremists in their country.
“The brutal murder of these men, and the ghastly attempt to justify and glorify it in a video, should be roundly condemned by everyone, in particular by the people of Libya who should resist the urgings of takfiri (Sunni extremist) groups,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a statement.
Islamic State militants in Libya posted a video on Sunday showing the decapitation of 21 Coptic Christians who were in the country seeking work.
“Murdering captives or hostages is prohibited under international law and Islamic law,” he said, denouncing what he called a “vile crime targeting people on the basis of their religion.”
Egypt on Tuesday repeated its call for UN-backed international intervention in Libya, with President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi saying in an interview aired by France’s Europe 1 radio that “there is no choice” but to create a global coalition to confront the extremists.
In a swift reprisal, Egypt launched air strikes on Islamic State group targets in Libya on Monday in retaliation for the beheadings.
Egypt’s foreign minister was in New York seeking backing from UN Security Council members for military intervention and to demand “full support” against the jihadists, a ministry spokesman said.
The diplomatic push comes a day after Egyptian F-16s bombed militant bases in Derna and on the February 17 anniversary of the beginning of the 2011 NATO-backed revolt that ousted dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
The raids were ordered hours after IS in Libya released a gruesome video showing the beheadings of 21 Coptic Christians who had traveled there seeking work.
UN human rights staff said Egyptian Coptic Christians have been abducted before in Libya.
In one case in December, “the bodies of three members of a Coptic Christian family were found in Sirte,” the high commissioner’s office said.
“Churches and other religious sites have also been attacked in Libya over the past three years,” it added.
Exodus of migrant workers
Zeid, meanwhile, urged Egypt troops attacking IS targets to avoid civilian casualties.
“The Egyptian air force must ensure full respect of the principles of distinction between civilians and fighters, and civilians objects and military objectives,” Zeid said.
The International Organization for Migration voiced concern about the situation for foreigners in general in increasingly lawless Libya.
The organization “is daily seeking to repatriate workers who are stranded in Libya,” spokesman Joel Millman told reporters in Geneva.
A big obstacle to repatriating them, he said, is that many workers do not have their work or travel documents because their employers kept them or they misplaced them in the chaos that has gripped Libya.
UN refugee agency spokesman Adrian Edwards also warned that foreigners in general were “feeling dangerously exposed” in Libya.
The situation was prompting foreigners to leave the country in droves, he said, saying “more people are being pushed to the point of risking their lives by taking to sea crossings heading toward Europe.”
According to IOM, at least 3,800 migrants have been rescued from the Mediterranean since Friday after setting off from Libya.
Complications
France, which agreed Monday to sell Egypt advanced Rafale warplanes, has called with Cairo on the UN to adopt measures to confront the jihadists in Libya.
Italy, the former colonial power there and located just across the Mediterranean, ruled out intervention without UN backing and suggested a political solution remained the best option.
“What is happening is very complicated. We are following events closely and with concern but there is no need to jump from total indifference to hysteria and an unreasonable reaction,” Prime Minister Matteo Renzi told TG5 television.
The European Union said it will discuss with the Egyptian and US governments this week joint action on Libya, but that it saw no role in any military intervention for now.
Chaos in Libya has seen rival governments and powerful militias battling for key cities and the country’s oil riches, providing fertile ground for IS.
Several Libyan jihadist groups have pledged allegiance to IS, which last year seized large parts of Syria and Iraq, declaring an Islamic caliphate and committing widespread atrocities.
Earlier this month, delegates from Libya’s rival parliaments held UN-mediated indirect talks described by the UN as “positive.”
But Egypt says it would be naive to hope for a speedy political settlement, insisting that militants must be confronted with force.
“There are terrorist organizations in Libya that are not abiding by their commitments; they are not serious about dialogue,” said Abdelatty.
Monday’s strikes were the first time Egypt announced military action against jihadist targets in Libya. Last year it reportedly allowed the United Arab Emirates to use its bases to bomb militants there.
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