Egypt`s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi visited on Monday the head of Egypt`s Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II extending condolences over the killings of the 21 Copts by Islamist State militias in Libya.
The visit comes after hours after the Egyptian army's announced that it has carried out airstrikes against IS training camps and arms depots in Libya.
The head of the Coptic church has issued a statement late Sunday expressing the whole community`s deep sorrow on the loss of the 21 Coptic migrant workers, who mostly hail from impoverished villages in Upper Egypt.
IS had militias kidnapped the Egyptian workers between late December and early January in the Libyan city of Sirte.
"We trust that the role of all institutions of our state was clear since the beginning of the crisis in Libya, and we believe that they can ensure rights of Egyptian citizens," the statement read.
Tawadros extended his condolences at the end of the statement to the families of the workers asking all Egyptians to pray for peace to spread in their country.
El-Sisi had said in a televised speech Sunday midnight that Egypt reserves its right to retaliate against the killing of 21 Egyptian Copts.
