| Submit your comments on this article |
| International |
| Egypt convicts 51 of being thugs... |
| 2002-09-09 |
| A military court convicted 51 men Monday in one of Egypt's biggest cases against Muslim militants in years and sentenced them to two to 15 years in prison. In all, 94 men were tried, 43 of whom were acquitted. The main defendants were charged with founding an illegal group that planned to assassinate President Hosni Mubarak and other public figures and to attack government institutions. Am I the only one who's noticed that Egypt thinks it's just jolly for Muslims to conduct war and revolution and atrocities in other countries, but doesn't like it a bit domestically? The judge read his verdicts and sentences so quietly that none of the defendants, sitting calmly in a metal cage in the courtroom on this military base, appeared to hear. He wanted it to be a suprise... Prosecutors dubbed the group al-Wa'ad - or "The Promise" - and said it was a new militant organization. Now it's the remnants of a new militant organization... Charges included belonging to the group, possessing explosives and ammunition, raising funds without authorization for Muslim rebels in Chechnya and Hamas militants in the Palestinian territories and receiving overseas military training without government authorization. Besides that little thing about conspiring to bump off El Presidente... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 "Blast it, Mahmoud! I TOLD you we should have gotten a permit before the fund drive!!!" |
| Posted by: G 2002-09-09 15:34:10 |