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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kidnappers-target-christians-egyptian-province-174042548.html
Kidnappers Target Christians in Egypt
(AP) Hamza Hendawi - Ezzat Kromer, a Christian gynecologist in Matai, Egypt, was kidnapped by masked gunmen and held for ransom. His case was part of a dramatic rise of kidnappings targeting Christians, including children, in Egypt's southern province of Minya, home to the country's largest concentration of Christians. Kromer, a father of three, was snatched on Jan. 29 as he drove home. By the next day, his family paid nearly $40,000 to a middleman and he was released. Church leaders and rights activists blame the atmosphere created by the rising power of hard-line Islamists. Over the past two years, there have been more than 150 reported kidnappings in the province - all of them targeting Christians, with 37 in the last several months, according to a top official at the Interior Ministry.