CAIRO: Two Egyptian Christians have been condemned to death for the murder of a Muslim man who married one of their relatives after she converted to Islam, a judicial source said on Sunday.
The source said Rami Atef Khella and Raafat Khella, the brother and uncle respectively of Mariam Atef Khella, had broken into the northern Cairo home of the couple armed with a gun.
Rami riddled the husband, Ahmed Salah, with bullets, killing him on the spot, while Mariam and the couple s daughter Nur were wounded, security officials said at the time of the attack more than a year ago.
Egypt s mufti, Ali Gomaa, has to approve the court s death sentences against the two men, as required by the country s legal system for non-military cases. His ruling is expected on Monday, the source told AFP.
To the fury of many in her family, Khella fled her village to convert to Islam and marry Salah.
The Copts, the Middle East s largest Christian community, make up between six and 10 percent of Egypt s 80 million people but complain of discrimination and harassment. -AFP
