The Zagazig Criminal Court upheld the death sentences handed to 12 ‘takfiris' Saturday, accused of the formation of a "terrorist cell" affiliated with "Islamic State", state newspaper Al-Ahram reported. The convicts are also accused of attempting to overthrow the regime and suspend the constitution, and targeting military and police personnel. The court had referred 12 people to Egypt's Grand Mufti to advise on their death sentences in order for the final verdict to be issued on 12 September. The referral of defendants to the Grand Mufti marks a procedural step prior to approving final death sentences. Homeland security investigations revealed that the main defendant in the case maintained contact with "Islamic State" members, and recruited individuals, mainly youth, from Egypt in order to bring them to Syria and Iraq to receive training in guerrilla warfare, Al-Ahram reported. Investigations also revealed that the main defendant received foreign funding in order to carry out terrorist attacks in Egypt, and that recruits returned to Egypt in order to execute those attacks, which targeted security forces and churches. "Islamic State" affiliates in Egypt are known as "State of Sinai", and were formerly known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis before pledging allegiance to "Islamic State". "State of Sinai" has claimed responsibility for almost all the insurgent operations taking place in the North Sinai area, via affiliated social media accounts. Among the incidents claimed by the group were the bombing near the Italian consulate in Downtown Cairo and the explosion of a bomb targeting a bus carrying soldiers in the North Sinai town of Al-Arish. END Keywords: state of Sinai, Islamic state, death sentences, terrorist cell, takfiris, grand mufti, north Sinai, al-arish,
