The Libyan authorities have arrested a 41-year-old Christian Egyptian called George Massoud Hanna Boutros on charges of preaching Christianity in Libya. Dr. Naguib Gabriel, head of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights Organizations and lawyer of the accused, said the arrest warrant was issued from Libyan foreign security services based on tendentious information spread by his former Egyptian partner Saad Eddin Saad. He said the latter spread such rumors to force the 41-year-old Egyptian to return to Egypt to seize the waste recycling company oils they co-owned. Dr. Gabriel said that what Mr. George had been arrested for was just Christian spiritual information posted on his website, adding that preaching Christianity was not a crime. Gabriel called on Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to quickly release the accused. He said he intended to travel to Benghazi in a few days if the efforts of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry did not succeed in releasing the 41-year-old Egyptian. He also threatened to escalate the issue internationally if Mr. Boutros was kept in jail and to stage demonstrations in front of the Libyan Embassy in Cairo.
