Britons released THREE Britons flew back home on an EgyptAir flight on Wednesday. Reza Pankhurst, Maajid Nawaz and Ian Nisbett, were released on Tuesday after they were sentenced to five years in jail for promoting the aims of Hizbul Tahrir Al-Islami (Islamic Liberation Party). The Britons, were among a group of 26 men jailed for between one to five years for spreading the propaganda of the Islamist group, which is banned in Egypt but legal in Britain. Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly, Pankhurst's mother, Zara, said that although she was informed about their release since 5 February, yet she was not told when it will happen. "I went to prison today [Tuesday] to visit the boys and was shocked to learn they were released but they did not know where they were taken to," Zara told the Weekly. The official, who sought anonymity, said the ministry had agreed to set them free because they had served three-quarters of their sentence. Including their time awaiting trial, they have been in jail for almost four years. "Their lawyers submitted a request that they be freed and the ministry agreed," he added. The Washington-based rights group Amnesty International said the trial, held in a state security court, was "unfair" and the men were convicted merely for "expressing their views peacefully". The charges against them included spreading propaganda for a group which called for the overthrow of the government. In the same case, eight Egyptians and a Palestinian were sentenced to five years in prison, seven Egyptians to three years and a further seven Egyptians to one year. Taba trial postponed A STATE security court looking into the 2004 Taba bombings adjourned until 26 March upon the prosecution's request to provide further evidence to be added to the suspects' indictment sheet. According to the state security prosecutor, new evidence has come up linking suspects on trial for the October 2004 bombings in the Red Sea resort of Taba and Ras Shitan which left 34 people killed, to last July's triple attacks, also on the peninsula but this time in Egypt's famous resort of Sharm El-Sheikh which killed 67 and injured dozens. A suspected militant in the Sharm El-Sheikh bombings has confessed to having played a role in Taba. The suspect, identified as Osama Abdel-Ghani El-Nakhlawi, was arrested in September. El-Nakhlawi will be brought in as a third defendant in the Taba trial, joining suspects Mohamed Gayez Sabbah and Mohamed Abdellah Rabaa. At a hearing on 25 February, the prosecutor said questioning in the Sharm El-Sheikh attacks revealed that Sabbah and Rabaa helped their accomplices in the Taba bombings to escape and carry out other attacks, like that of July. Rabaa and Sabba pleaded not guilty on a number of charges that included illegal possession of weapons, manufacturing explosives, plotting to kill Egyptians and foreigners and resisting and attacking police. According to the suspects' attorney, Ahmed Seif El-Islam, his clients went on hunger strike in protest at the prevention of some of their defence team from attending court sessions. El-Islam said the prosecutor's evidence might be in favour of his clients, and that adding new witnesses to the case brought it back to square one. The prosecutor added they would present new evidence to the case based on testimony from 19 other suspects arrested in the wake of the Sharm El-Sheikh attacks. They are currently under interrogation and have confessed to having helped hide militants behind the Taba bombings. Oil spill A LIBERIAN oil tanker spilled 3,000 tonnes of heavy fuel into the Suez Canal after hitting the bank of the waterway on Monday, an official of the Suez Canal Authority said. The tanker, which was travelling from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, hit the quay after it suffered a technical failure. The ship was partly damaged and spilled about 3,000 of the 58,000 tonnes of heavy fuel aboard into the canal. Tug boats were sent to the area where the accident occurred to pull the tanker so that the strategic waterway would not be blocked. The Environment Ministry dispatched a task force to clean the oil slick. About 7.5 per cent of world sea trade is transmitted through the 190-kilometre canal, making it one of the busiest waterways in the world. Transit fees paid by shipping operators are one of Egypt's main hard currency earners with a total of $3.45 billion collected in 2005. Train crash SEVENTEEN people were injured on Tuesday when two trains collided in the governorate of Beheira. The accident occurred on a main railway line between Cairo and the coastal city of Alexandria near the town of Abu Homs, some 150 kilometres northwest of Cairo, railway officials said. The injured were rushed to two hospitals in nearby Damanhour and Alexandria for medical treatment. Compiled by Mohamed El-Sayed
