The Sharqeya Criminal Court referred the sentenced militant leader Adel Habara and eight other defendants to death Tuesday for inciting violence. The court decided to refer the defendants' files to the Grand Mufti for an advisory consultancy on the verdict as per Egyptian law requirements, state media reported. In this case, Habara and other defendants were accused of possessing ammunition and brochures and inciting the targeting of police and army personnel. The Cairo Criminal Court upheld in December death sentences against Habara and six other militants in the "second Rafah massacre" case. They stood accused of killing of 25 police conscripts in an ambush on a police convoy in August 2013 in the Abu Tawila region, along the international Al-Arish/Rafah road in Sinai. Adel Mohamed Ibrahim, also known as Adel Habara, was arrested in August 2013 while hiding out in Al-Arish. He was also sentenced to death in absentia for participating in the 2005 Dahab and Taba attacks, and reportedly admitted to committing the Rafah killings during his arrest.
