The Guardian Egypt executes six men convicted of killing soldiers after 'grossly unfair' trial Egyptian authorities hanged six men on Sunday who were convicted of killing soldiers, police said, ignoring appeals to spare them amid allegations that two had been in custody at the time of their alleged crimes. A military court upheld the death sentences last March, following a trial in which the six were convicted of carrying out the attacks in the months after the ouster of president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. Prosecutors said they were members of the Sinai peninsular-based Ansar Beit al-Maqdis jihadi group, which late last year pledged allegiance to Islamic State. Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/17/egypt-executes-six-members-of-isis-aligned-militant-group-sinai-province International Business Times Egypt Imposes New Restrictions On Women Traveling To Turkey Egypt has imposed new restrictions aimed at preventing women from traveling to Turkey, Egyptian police said Sunday. The move comes months after similar measures were put in place for men to discourage them from joining militant groups in nearby countries. A separate security clearance would be required for all Egyptian women aged 18 to 40 who intend to travel to Turkey, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a senior police official. "A security clearance can be acquired within 72 hours, and it is now mandatory for women traveling to this country (Turkey)," the officer said. Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/egypt-imposes-new-restrictions-women-traveling-turkey-1926338 The Independent How distaste of LGBT people in Egypt has turned into state-sponsored persecution Whenever protests are planned and the Egyptian tanks roll into Cairo's main squares, Mariam, 25, takes a longer route to work, the one that avoids the police checkpoints. Her ID carries the name she was born with (a boy's name) and a number that signals her original gender (male). These details are not easily changed, and they could get her arrested. "Last time I got stopped, I panicked and pretended I was going to a fancy-dress party. The officers made fun of me but it worked and they let me go," she says. It was a close call. The policemen ridiculed her for a bit, and called her names, but she played along and once they got bored they let her pass. With dozens of members of the LGBT community in prison on so-called charges of "debauchery", she does not want to risk it again: "I now avoid checkpoints or places where illegal things happen." Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/how-distaste-of-lgbt-people-in-egypt-has-turned-into-statesponsored-persecution-10256869.html The Jerusalem Post Egypt: For Sisi, executing Morsi has its benefits and drawbacks For Sisi's regime, killing the former president could be seen as a nail in the coffin of the Muslim Brotherhood movement which has seen its leadership decimated by arrests, while some leaders have fled the country. Zvi Mazel, who served as Israel's sixth ambassador to Egypt and is a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs today and a contributor to this newspaper, told The Jerusalem Post that while many in the West were expressing their outrage over the death sentence, Standard & Poor's upgraded Egypt's outlook to positive from stable. It was undoubtedly a vote of confidence to Sisi's efforts to create sustainable economic growth, said Mazel. "This will give confidence to potential investors from the West and lessen the burden of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries which have been making a remarkable effort to support Egypt's economy," he said. Read more: http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Analysis-For-Sisi-executing-Morsi-has-its-benefits-and-drawbacks-403370
