Egypt court sentences 10 for Sinai bombings

ISMAILIA, Egypt, Nov 30 (Reuters) An Egyptian state security court sentenced 10 men to between five years and life in prison today for their role in explosions at tourist resorts on the Sinai coast that killed more than 100 people.

The court in the Suez Canal town of Ismailia also confirmed death sentences against three men convicted of organising the three attacks between October 2004 and April 2006.

The confirmation was a formality after the mufti of Egypt, the government-appointed interpreter of Islamic law, gave his approval to the death sentences.

The 10 defendants faced charges of murder, attempted murder, belonging to a terrorist group, possession of explosives and weapons, damaging public property and sheltering criminals.

They had pleaded not guilty. After a judge read the verdicts on Thursday they shouted slogans denouncing the United States and Israel, whom they blamed for the bombings.

The prosecution said the bombers were part of a Sinai group called One God and Jihad. None of the defendants provided any information about such a group in court. Several said they had made confessions under physical and psychological distress.

They come from the area around El Arish and Sheikh Zuwaid in northern Sinai, an impoverished and relatively isolated region which has a significant population with links to the Palestinians in neighbouring Gaza.

The area has high unemployment and political Islam is widespread there. In southern Sinai, where the bombings took place, mass tourism has stimulated the local economy.

Foreign intelligence organisations had speculated al Qaeda had a role in the bombings but neither the Egyptian authorities nor any authenticated al Qaeda document has established the Sinai group has any foreign links.

The authorities say those who planted the bombs died in the explosions or were shot dead by police in a hunt that continued for months in the hills of central Sinai.

Two men were sentenced to life imprisonment, two to 15 years, three to 10 years, two to seven years and one to five years. The man sentenced to the shortest term was convicted only of sheltering criminals and membership of a terrorist group.

In each of the three attacks, the bombers detonated three explosions, almost simultaneously, in each case on an Egyptian national holiday. Their targets were hotels, beach camps and shopping areas popular with foreign tourists.

The campaign of bombings began on October 7, 2004, in and near the resort of Taba close to the border with Israel.

Bombers struck again on July 23, 2005, in Sharm el-Sheikh, the main resort on the Sinai coast, and then in the town of Dahab on April 24 this year.

REUTERS AB BS1731