Libya: IS claim to have killed group of Ethiopian Christians

IS/Daish militants in Libya yesterday released a 29 minute video which appears to show groups of about 30 captive Ethiopian Christians, being shot or beheaded.

The film begins with images of churches, Christian graves and icons being destroyed. Then a masked man brandishing a gun delivers a long speech saying Christians must convert or pay a special tax prescribed by the Q'uran.

An Ethiopian government spokesman said they were still trying to verify the authenticity of the film. A spokesman from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church's Patriarchate Office, said he believed the victims were migrants. He told AP: "I believe this is another case of the IS group killing Christians in the name of Islam. Our fellow citizens have just been killed on a faith-based violence that is totally unacceptable. This is outrageous. No religion orders the killing of other people, even people from another religion."

Christianity came to Ethiopia in the 1st century AD. The earliest reference is in the New Testament (Acts 8:26-38) which recounts that Philip the Evangelist converted an Ethiopian court official in the 1st century AD.

The apostle St Matthew is said to have preached in Ethiopia after his mission to Judea.

Ethiopia's Garima Gospels are thought to be the world's oldest illuminated Christian manuscripts.