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Al Jazeera Caller Threatens to Murder Egyptian Christians

July 31, 2013

An Al Jazeera caller from Libya threatened to murder Egyptian Christians, destroy churches, and assassinate the pope of Alexandria over the weekend, according to a translation of the man’s remarks.

A man who identified himself as Tamer Rashad called into an Al Jazeera news program on Saturday as Muslim Brotherhood rioters supporting deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi took to the streets.

"God willing starting from today, there will not be a single Christian walking in the streets of Egypt or inside the churches," said Rashad, who claims that several groups of Egyptians "who are defending Islam" have already travelled to Egypt to carry out the attacks.

"We are a group of people, young people, who are defending Islam in Libya, a big number of our group already left for Egypt and the second group are going to join them soon," Rashad said, according to a translation of his remarks provided by Mansour Al-Hadj, director of Middle East Media Research Institute’s (MEMRI) Reform in the Arab and Muslim World project.

Al-Hadj, who translated the Al Jazeera call for the WashigFree Beacon, expressed shock as the caller threatened to kill Christians in Egypt.

"Everybody who took part in this coup d’état" will be a target, according to Rashad, who specifically threatens to assassinate Egypt’s Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria and Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb.

Egypt's interim government gave orders Wednesday for security forces to start breaking up pro-Morsi protesters in Cairo, the Washington Post reported.

While the Al Jazeera host attempts to interrupt Rashad, he continues his threats.

"We are ready," Rashad says. "You guys need only to take your camera over there" to the churches "and go watch what’s going to happen."

"We are one nation," the host interjects. "We don’t need this intimidation and threat."

"If you want to talk about how we can get out of this dilemma and the solutions that you want then, yes," the host adds, while thanking Rashad for his call. "But we don’t want any threat or intimidation for any Egyptian or whoever he or she is."

MEMRI’s Al-Hadj said that the caller’s threats are very clear and expressed surprise at how deferential the Al Jazeera host was when confronted with violent remarks.

"I think he [the host] should have apologized to the people listening to this conversation, not saying, ‘Thank you’ to him afterword," Al-Hadj said. "To talk to him respectfully, I think this call should have been disconnected, especially when he started threatening people and Christians and inside their churches too.

"There is something wrong here," Al-Hadj added. "Even though the host was trying to calm him down, this is not acceptable at all from Al Jazeera."

As Al Jazeera’s Arabic television station continues to host extremist rhetoric and provide a platform to the region’s most radical voices, Al Jazeera America announced that it is expanding its operation.

Al Jazeera America announced on Wednesday that it would be opening 12 U.S. bureaus on August 20, when the station begins broadcasting.

"It is critical for Al Jazeera America to have bureaus strategically placed throughout the U.S. so that we can cover the news from wherever it happens," Marcy McGinnis, Al Jazeera America’s senior vice-president for newsgathering, said in a statement published by Politico.

"We want our correspondents to report on a wide range of local, state, and regional stories within the context of what it means for the rest of the country," the statement read.

Al Jazeera America’s news bureaus will be located in "Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.," according to Politico.