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1st LD: UN Security Council slams "heinous" murder of over 30 Ethiopians in Libya

Xinhua, April 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN Security Council on Monday strongly condemned "the heinous and cowardly apparent murder" in Libya of more than 30 Ethiopian Christians by an affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh).

"This crime once again demonstrates the brutality of ISIL, which is responsible for thousands of crimes and abuses against people from all faiths, ethnicities and nationalities, and without regard to any basic value of humanity," said a statement issued to the press here by the 15-nation UN body.

Ethiopia has confirmed many of the Christians shown being shot and beheaded in a video purportedly made by the Islamic State (IS) group, or Daesh, were its citizens. Militants claimed the victims were killed in Libya.

The 29-minute video released online Sunday showed about 12 men being beheaded on a beach, while a further approximately 16 people were shot in the head in a desert area.

The victims were identified in the video as "followers of the cross from the enemy Ethiopian Church," reports said, adding that it was claimed one group had been held by an IS affiliated group in the east of the country, while the second group was with an IS ally in Libya's south.

"The members of the Security Council stressed again that ISIL must be defeated and that the intolerance, violence and hatred it espouses must be stamped out," the statement said. Endi