A US Jewish college student, who was stabbed to death during a protest in Egypt on Friday, was in the country to teach English to children and improve his Arabic, according to his family.
Andrew Pochter, 21, from Maryland, died after being stabbed in the chest in the city of Alexandria, where anti-government protesters stormed an office of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood. He was witnessing the protest as a bystander.
“He had studied in the region, loved the culture, and planned to live and work there in the pursuit of peace and understanding,” said a statement from Pochter’s family.
“Andrew was a wonderful young man looking for new experiences in the world and finding ways to share his talents while he learned,” it said.
A statement from Ohio’s Kenyon College, where Pochter was due to begin his junior year, said he was interning in Alexandria with AMIDEAST, an American non-profit organisation that runs education and development programs in the Middle East and North Africa.
Millions of Egyptians took the streets during the weekend on the first anniversary of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi's inauguration to demand that he resign.