Egypt’s security forces arrest 3 men in Suez stabbing case

Egyptian security forces arrested three men on Thursday suspected of stabbing to death a 20-year-old university student in Suez earlier this week as he was walking in a street with his fiancée, an Egyptian daily reported.

Ahmed Hussein Eid, an engineering student, was attacked by three men with long beards wearing ‘galabiyas’ (long robes associated by Muslim Salafis) while he was in the company of his fiancée, according to witnesses.

Eid was rushed to the hospital in a bad condition, but he died of his injuries on Monday.

The security forces exerted “enormous effort” in detaining the three suspects “to assure the people of Suez that, as promised, we care for their safety,” Suez police chief Adel Refaat was quoted as saying by Egypt’s online edition of state-run al-Ahram daily.

Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim ruled out, in a press conference following the arrest, that the 3 suspects have any links to a religious party or group.

He said that the incident was “just a normal crime” but the mass media have made a big deal out of it.

“The attackers shouted at him, demanding to know his relationship with the woman he was with,” Eid’s father had said in a video testimony currently circulating social-media networks. “He replied that it was none of their business.”

A spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood, Saad Khalifa, condemned the violent incident on Tuesday, calling the culprits “outlaws” and demanding a quick probe. Liberal and leftists forces also issued a joint statement expressing solidarity with the victim.

The incident was the focus of most talk shows on various private TV channels, as it sparked fears of “moral” vigilantism, especially after the ultra-conservative Salafi Nour Party won the largest number of votes in Suez during last year’s parliamentary polls.