An Egyptian military court yesterday condemned two men to death and sentenced three others to jail for belonging to Egypt's largest militant group, the Gama'a al-Islamiya.
The two condemned men, one of whom is a doctor, were also found guilty of recruiting members to the group and plotting to kill government officials.
Those sentenced to jail included a 16-year-old schoolboy, who received the maximum juvenile prison term of three years. Other sentences ranged from three years to life. A further 32 defendants were acquitted.
The trial has attracted attention because, in a grisly coincidence, it opened on the morning of November 17th, just as other alleged members of the Gama'a were engaged in an orgy of killing at Luxor's Hatshepsut temple, leaving 63 people dead.
In the wake of the massacre, criticism of the government's policy of using military courts to try Islamists has grown. Human rights groups have long characterised the trials, which have ordered 90 death sentences since 1993, as unfair. Now many Egyptian political analysts are adding their voices to the chorus, saying that by creating martyrs the trials are simply hardening the radicals' resolve.
How yesterday's verdict will be seen by the militants themselves remains to be seen. Just two days earlier exiled Gama'a members said they were considering whether or not to validate a call by the group's jailed leadership for a ceasefire.
The offer was made last summer but was dismissed by radical, exiled members, causing a rift in the leadership.
Following the Luxor attack the group's divisions grew as rival exiled leaders first claimed responsibility for the attack and then attempted to distance themselves from the carnage.
The latest offer is an attempt to patch over these divisions.
"The group, thanks to God, is strong and united . . . and differences in viewpoints which have emerged recently will not affect its unity and strength," said a statement faxed to news agencies.
It is unlikely that another ceasefire offer will change government policy. The state has consistently ruled out any negotiation with the Gama'a and characterised previous peace overtures as ploys to lighten the sentences of militants facing trial.