Two Canadians fear for lives after wrongly linked to anti-Islam film

OTTAWA – Two Canadian human-rights activists say they fear for their lives after being wrongly identified as having some connection to an anti-Muslim film that has sparked riots and protests around the world.

Nader Fawzy and Jacques Attalla say they are among a number of Coptic Christians who have been accused by Egypt of offending Islam, insulting the Prophet Muhammad, inciting sectarian strife and jeopardizing the country’s peace and independence.

Egypt’s prosecutor general issued arrest warrants earlier this week for seven Coptic Christians, most of them living in the United States, as well as Florida pastor Terry Jones.

Fawzy and Attalla both say they had nothing to do with the controversial film, Innocence of Muslims, and actually hadn’t even heard of it until protests erupted across the Middle East last week.

They say they’ve been targeted because they’ve been outspoken in denouncing the persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt.

Both men say they fear that a “fatwa” issued against those involved in the film by senior Muslim clerics in Egypt puts their lives — and those of family members here and in Egypt — in danger.