CAIRO, Egypt (W.) March 19, 2008 -- A Christian bookstore was raided by police in Cairo last week, according to Advocates for the Persecuted.
Jan Fletcher, executive director of Advocates For The Persecuted, is now urging Christians around the world to contact Egyptian consulates to express concern about a police raid.
Egyptian police arrested Shenouda Armia Bakhait midday Saturday, March 15, confiscating books, compact discs, and issues of a newspaper read by Christians in Egypt.
He was released Sunday night after posting bail.
David Joseph, president of Advocates For The Persecuted, said eight undercover policemen stormed into the Nile Christian Book Shop.
"They spent two hours searching everything in the bookstore," he said. "Mr. Shenouda was interrogated for more than five hours."
The Nile Christian Book Shop opened in 2006 in a location that first housed a bookstore in 1890.
"We posted a suggested letter we'd like to see sent to Egyptian consulates on our website at www.advocatesforthepersecuted.org," said Fletcher. "Sending this letter is an important step Americans and Canadians can take to present a clear message to Egypt's government that the sizable population of Christians in Egypt, estimated to comprise 8 to 10 percent of the population, should have the right to distribute and obtain Christian literature."
