CAIRO: Coptic teacher Ayman Anwar Metri dropped on Sunday accusations against members of a Salafi group whom he previously accused of cutting his ear and burning his house.
Merti filed a report of the reconciliation to Qena prosecution. His two assailants, Al-Housiny Kamal and Alaa Abdel-Sattar, are detained by the police.
Metri denied to the prosecution that he knew the 10-12 people who cut his ear. They claimed he was renting a flat he owned to women with a bad reputation.
Metri filed a complaint last week accusing members of a Salafi group of cutting his ear and burning his house and car. Salafism is a strict interpretation of Islam often blamed for fundamentalism, although many of its leaders distance themselves from extremism or violence.
Osma Metri, the teacher’s brother, told Daily News Egypt that Metri received a phone call informing him that his flat was on fire. When he reached the building he found it burnt; he called a carpenter to change the apartment’s lock and waited in another apartment in the other building.
Then, tens of men broke into the apartment, dragged Metri out to the street, beat him up and cut his ear. "Salafis were yelling after they cut my brother’s ear: this is an execution of God’s sharia because you were renting your apartment to prostitutes," Osama said.
A number of Salafis resorted to a reconciliation initiative confirming that the Salafis who committed this crime made this individually, claiming that sharia laws are known like stoning for those who commit adultery and cutting hands of thieves.
They also said the crime was an act of thuggery.
The reconciliation initiative was attended by members of Metri’s family, members of the Salafi group, priests, Qena’s former MP, and head of Qena’s military force. They agreed on the reconciliation and dropping the complaint.
Metri’s brother said that they also agreed on not disclosing the details of the reconciliation.
Meanwhile, Head of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights Organization and Coptic Lawyer Naguib Gobrael sent a memo on Saturday to Field Marshal Hussien Tantawi expressing "the Coptic fear of Salafi influence".
"Many Egyptians and especially Copts fear the influence of Salafis who are more dangerous than any other religious or political group," the memo read.
"What is even more dangerous is your unclear stance over what is happening to Copts lately. Copts are bitter at the recurrent attacks on monasteries and churches," it added.
