Egypt Court Sentences 26 To Death Over Suez Terrorist Plot 

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AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE as published by the ANADOLU AGENCY
Thursday 27 February 2014

(Photo PD) U.S. Aircraft Carrier transits the Suez Canal

"CAIRO 

A court on Wednesday slapped 26 people with the death penalty after convicting them of forming a "terrorist cell" that targeted Egypt's strategic Suez Canal, judicial sources said.

The court sentenced 26 out of 27 defendants in the case to death. Legal sources told Anadolu Agency that the verdict was still subject to appeal.

All the defendants were tried in absentia, the sources said, adding that defense lawyers had not attended the session.

Investigations of the defendants began in February of last year. They were later released pending trial.

The defendants were charged with threatening national security by establishing a "terrorist cell" that sought to target ships passing through the canal, which is vital to international shipping."  TO READ THE FULL STORY  CLICK HERE: ANADOLU AGENCY