Egyptian prosecutors on Monday referred 170 alleged members and leaders of the outlawed Al Gamaa Al Islamiyya to a military court, on the heels of the indictment of 83 suspected Islamic Jihad members suspected of carrying out domestic terrorist acts.
The Cairo-based Al Ahram said Tuesday that the suspected Gamaa members were based in Al Minia governorate in the southern part of Egypt.
The newspaper also mentioned that the new list of defendants were accused of attempts on the lives of 250 policemen and citizens from 1994 to 1998, in addition to an attack on a hotel, “worship houses,” and a bank.
Al Ahram said that the prosecution had obtained confessions from the accused, “and those who provided them with arms or havens or helped them in transferring money.”
The military attorney is due to receive the complete files for the case, and the indictment list is expected soon.
Earlier this week, 83 suspects allegedly belonging to Al Jihad were indicted for planning and carrying out terrorist acts. Those charged include two Daghistanis, a Yemeni, two trained pilots and some men who had received training in Afghanistan.
Both Islamic Jihad and Al Gamaa Al Islamiyya, fought the Egyptian government for several years starting in 1992, before authorities were able to crush them.
However, the government has not ruled out that there might be “sleeping cells” of group members allied to Osama bin Laden, the main suspect in the airborne suicide attacks on the US last month — Albawaba.com
