Egypt condemns 26 to death on Suez Canal plot charges

CAIRO, Egypt – An Egyptian court sentenced 26 people to death on Wednesday, February 26, on charges of forming a “terror group” plotting to target shipping passing through the Suez Canal, judicial sources said.

All of the defendants were tried in their absence, a prosecutor said, as the court handed down the death sentences a day after the military-installed authorities named a new prime minister who vowed to fight “terrorism” and lure back foreign investors and holidaymakers.

The Suez Canal, which links the Mediterranean with the Indian Ocean through the Red Sea and is a key trade route between Europe and Asia, accounts for a huge chunk of Egyptian foreign exchange earnings and government income.

The canal separates the rest of Egypt from the lawless Sinai Peninsula where the longstanding hostility to authority of Bedouin tribes has created fertile ground for Islamist militant groups.

The convictions all relate to offences allegedly committed between 2004 and 2009, before the Arab Spring uprising ended the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak in 2011, a court source said.

The defendants were convicted of “founding and leading a terror group that aimed to attack people’s freedom, damage national unity and (attack) the Suez Canal,” the source said.

They were also found guilty of possessing firearms and explosives, manufacturing rockets and carrying out surveillance of security force buildings in preparation for attacks.

The court referred the death sentences to the mufti, a top Muslim cleric who under Egyptian law must approve all executions and has until March 19 to give his decision.

The defendants have the right to appeal.

A former state-sector construction boss and member of Mubarak’s now disbanded National Democratic Party, Ibrahim Mahlab was named interim prime minister on Tuesday.

He vowed to fight “terrorism” and bring back tourists as he began work on forming a new cabinet following the surprise resignation of prime minister Hazem al-Beblawi on Monday.

“This will create the conditions for investment and the return of tourism,” said Mahlab, who served as housing minister in Beblawi’s government.

Since the military ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last July, militants based in the Sinai have stepped up their attacks on security personnel, killing scores and severely denting tourism and investment.

The army has poured reinforcements into the arid, underdeveloped peninsula, but that has not stopped the jihadists from extending their attacks to other regions, including the heart of the capital.

Last year, an Al-Qaeda-inspired group, the Furqan Brigades, attacked vessels passing through the Suez Canal and vowed to carry out further such attacks.

At nearly 200 kilometers (125 miles) long, the Suez Canal is owned by Egypt but governed by an international treaty that guarantees free navigation.

A significant proportion of the world’s oil and gas passes through the strategic waterway, from which Egypt earns toll income that has become all the more important as a result of a sharp drop in tourist numbers. – Rappler.com

Suez Canal image from Shutterstock