Egypt convicts 51 of plotting to kill Mubarak

A military court has found 51 men guilty of plotting to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

A military court has found 51 men guilty of plotting to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

They have been punished with sentences ranging from two to 15 years. The trial, in which 94 had been charged, was one of Egypt's biggest Islamic militancy cases.

The main defendants were charged with founding an illegal group that planned the assassination.

Others were accused of belonging to the group, possessing explosives and ammunition, raising funds without authorisation for Muslim rebels in Chechnya and Hamas militants in the Palestinian territories and receiving overseas military training without government authorisation.

READ MORE

Prosecutors dubbed the group al-Wa'ad, or "the promise" and said it was a new militant organisation.

Defence lawyers said their clients were at first accused of the illegal fundraising for Muslim fighters and that the more serious charges were added after September 11th last year.

The defendants said they did not belong to a group.

AP