|
|
|
Palestinian Christian activist killed in Gaza
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) _ Unknown assailants killed a Palestinian Christian activist and dumped his body on a Gaza City street, Palestinian officials said Sunday. The body of Rami Khader Ayyad, the 32-year-old director of Gaza's only Christian bookstore, bore a visible gunshot wound to the head, and an official at Gaza's Shifa Hospital said he was also stabbed numerous times. Ayyad had been missing since Saturday afternoon. Ayyad's store, the Teacher's Bookshop, is associated with a Christian group called the Palestinian Bible Society, and Ayyad regularly received anonymous death threats from people angry about his missionary work, his family said. "We feel Rami was killed for his Christian faith," said Simon Azazian, a spokesman at the Bible Society's head office in Jerusalem. On Friday, Ayyad noticed that he was being followed by a car with no license plates, Azazian said. He was abducted after closing the store on Saturday afternoon, and called his family to say he would be returned late in the evening, Azazian said. Police were notified, but his body was found the next morning. Ayyad left two young children and a pregnant wife. "The Christian community and all of Gaza society are feeling deeply shocked because of this awful, ugly crime," said Hussam Tawil, a Palestinian lawmaker who represents Gaza's Christians. Tawil would not say who he believed was responsible. "It's too early to talk about the motive of this crime, which might be dangerous," Tawil said.
|
|