Foreign Minister Westerwelle condemns death threats against Hamed Abdel-Samad

BERLIN, Germany, June 13, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Foreign Minister Westerwelle issued the following statement today regarding the death threats made against Mr Abdel-Samad in Egypt:

“I condemn the death threats made against author Hamed Abdel-Samad in the strongest terms. I am seriously concerned for his safety and expect the Egyptian Government to prevent any further calls to violence and to take firm action against the originators of the death threats.”

The Federal Foreign Office is in direct contact with Mr Samad and has offered him concrete assistance.

Hamed Abdel-Samad is a German author who has over the past years published several books in which he has undertaken a critical examination of Islam. After he gave a speech in Cairo last week, some of Mr Samad's utterances were picked up on by Egyptian television. An Islamist party spokesman and a professor at Al-Azhar University called for Mr Samad to be killed.