Christian persecution concerns rise in Egypt as State Department presses religious freedom

A series of violent attacks on Egyptian Christians, including the incarceration of a man who converted from Islam to Christianity, prompted the U.S. State Department to urge that religious freedom be respected in the Muslim-majority country of Egypt.

The situation of the Christian minority in Egypt has implications for religious freedom in the northern African nation that receives $1.3 billion in annual funding from the U.S.

Raymond Ibrahim, an expert on Christians in the Muslim world...