CAIRO: An Egyptian court has referred the case of seven defendants facing terrorism charges to the country’s top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for a non-binding opinion on whether they can be executed as the prosecution seeks.
The Cairo Criminal Court said Saturday the defendants are members of a local affiliate of the Daesh group spearheading an insurgency in northern Sinai.
The men are part of 32 defendants accused of killing eight police, including an officer, when they ambushed a microbus in Cairo’s southern suburb of Helwan in May 2016.
The verdict is set for Nov. 12, and the presiding judge may rule independently of the Mufti.
Egypt has battled an insurgency for years in the Sinai Peninsula that has occasionally spilled over to the mainland.
Egypt court asks Grand Mufti for opinion on terror case sentences
Egypt court asks Grand Mufti for opinion on terror case sentences
- Cairo Criminal Court said defendants are members of a local affiliate of the Daesh group
- Grand Mufti will be asked for a non-binding opinion on whether they can be executed as the prosecution seeks
Syrian government, Kurdish forces announce integration deal
- Under the agreement, forces that had amassed on front lines in the country’s north would pull back
- Security forces will deploy to the centers of the cities of Hasakah and Qamishli in the northeast
DAMASCUS: The Syrian government and the Kurdish-led group the Syrian Democratic Forces said on Friday they had agreed to a comprehensive ceasefire and a phased integration of military and administrative bodies into the Syrian state under a broad deal.
Under the agreement, forces that had amassed on front lines in the country’s north would pull back and Interior Ministry security forces will deploy to the centers of the cities of Hasakah and Qamishli in the northeast, both currently held by the SDF. Local security forces will be merged.
The sides announced the deal after Syrian government forces under President Ahmed Al-Sharaa captured swathes of northern and eastern Syria from the SDF this month, forcing the Kurdish forces to retreat into a shrinking enclave.
The agreement includes the formation of a military division that will include three SDF brigades, in addition to the formation of a brigade for forces in the SDF-held town of Kobani, also known as Ain Al-Arab, which will be affiliated to the governorate of Aleppo.
“The agreement aims to unify Syrian territory and achieve full integration in the region by strengthening cooperation between the concerned parties and unifying efforts to rebuild the country,” according to the deal as announced by the SDF.
A senior Syrian government official told Reuters the deal was final and had been reached late on Thursday night, and that implementation was to begin immediately.
