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| Ethiopia PM (Photo: Reuters) |
Ethiopia will hold three days of national mourning for
Ethiopian Christians killed by Islamic State militants in Libya, the government
said Monday.
The mourning period begins Tuesday after its official
launch by parliament, Communications Minster Redwan Hussein, GRAPHITTI NEWS
gathers.
State television said flags would fly at half-mast.
The 29-minute video issued by the IS group purports to
show militants holding two groups of captives, described in text captions as
"followers of the cross from the enemy Ethiopian Church".
A masked fighter in black brandishing a pistol makes a
statement threatening Christians if they do not convert to Islam.
The video then switches between footage of one group
of about 12 men being beheaded by masked militants on a beach and another group
of at least 16 being shot in the head in a desert area.
Addis Ababa has condemned the killings, and said its
embassy in Egypt was trying to confirm exactly how many died and their
identities.
"Many of them were Ethiopians, even though we
don't know the exact number yet," Redwan said, adding that it remained
unclear if it would be possible to recover the bodies.
African Union chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma condemned
the "barbaric and cowardly act".
She said the 54-member bloc -- which is headquartered
in Addis Ababa -- would boost efforts "towards the restoration of
effective state institutions and security in Libya."
The United States has called the killings "brutal
mass murder", while the European Union said it was a "criminal"
effort to create religious divisions.
Almost two-thirds of Ethiopians are Christians, the
majority of those Orthodox Copts -- who say they have been in the Horn of
Africa nation since the first century AD -- as well as large numbers of
Protestants.
Islam
also has an ancient history in Ethiopia, brought to the country by some of the
earliest followers of the Prophet Mohammed, who were sheltered there by the
Christian king.
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