3 Militants in Egypt Get Death Sentence
A court sentenced three Muslim militants to death Saturday for killing 26 police officers.
Two of the men were sentenced in absentia, however, and will have to be retried if they are captured.
The sentences must be approved by Egypt’s senior Islamic cleric, largely a formality.
Executions in Egypt are usually carried out by hanging.
The state security court sentenced Hassan Khalifa, Rifaat Zeidan and Abdel Hamid Osman to death for the 1992-1993 killings of the officers and for plotting to kill 46 other police and civilians.
Khalifa, who was wounded in a shootout with police, sat in a wheelchair as the judge read the sentence.
Zeidan and Osman, who remain at large, are leaders of Gamaa al Islamiya, Egypt’s strongest militant group.
The organization is fighting to overthrow the secular government.
The three were tried with 30 other suspects in proceedings that took 10 months and included testimony from 50 witnesses.
Sentences for the other 30 were postponed until Jan. 27.
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