Sisi Assassination Plots? Egypt Charges Hundreds
Local Editor
Egypt will try 292 alleged militant suspects over plots to assassinate President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the Saudi crown prince and attacks in the Sinai Peninsula, a prosecution official said Sunday.
The suspects, including 151 currently in custody, were referred to a military court for alleged membership of the "Sinai State," the local affiliate of the Daesh [ISIS/ISIL] terrorist group, which is leading a militancy in the peninsula.
The suspects were questioned about the accusations against them and 66 confessed during an investigation that lasted more than a year, the official said.
The suspects were involved in 17 operations, including two plots to kill Sisi, one while he was on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and one in Cairo, the official said.
The official gave no further details, but said some of those who planned the assassination attempts were dismissed police officers who adhere to a militant ideology.
Authorities said the six former officers involved in the plots were members of a "bearded police officers" group formed in 2012, whose members said they would grow their beards in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic doctrine, the MENA news agency reported.
Meanwhile, the interior ministry blocked this move, saying it violated police and military codes, MENA said. The group members were then sent to the ministry's reserve forces.
Authorities said these former security officials planned to use their expertise to target the president's convoy as it moved through Cairo.
The suspects allegedly also planned to assassinate Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in the Gulf kingdom and five Egyptian judges.
No further details about the plots were given.
The prosecution also accuses the suspects of attacking army and police checkpoints and bases in the Sinai, and of responsibility for a February 2014 attack on a bus carrying South Korean tourists in the south Sinai tourist resort of Taba that killed three holiday makers.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
Comments
- Related News
