Egypt jails 51 militants for plotting killings

An Egyptian military court jailed 51 men for up to 15 years today in one of the country’s biggest Islamic fundamentalist cases for years.

The ringleaders were charged with planned to assassinate President Hosni Mubarak and other public figures and to attack government institutions.

Others were found guilty of possessing explosives, illegally raising funds for Muslim rebels in Chechnya and Hamas militants in the Palestinian territories and receiving overseas military training without government authorisation.

Prosecutors in the town of Haekstep dubbed the group al-Wa’ad _ or “the Promise” _ and said it was a new militant organisation.

Defence lawyers had said their clients were first accused of the illegal fund-raising for Muslim fighters and that the more serious charges were added only after the September 11 attacks in the US.

The defendants had said they did not even belong to a group.

Raising charitable funds without government permission is punishable under an Egyptian military decree designed to limit the activities of Islamic groups.

Mubarak started referring civilians to military courts in 1992 in the wake of violent campaign by Islamic militants to overthrow his regime.

Military courts proceedings are swift and their verdicts can only overturned by Mubarak.