Zagazig Criminal Court upheld a death sentence on Sunday, handed to militant Islamist figure Adel Habara on charges of killing a policeman in 2012. The court's ruling was also approved by the Grand Mufti. The incident goes back to 2012, when Habara allegedly shot an undercover policeman in Sharqeya. This is not the first death sentence given to Habara. In December 2014, the Cairo Criminal Court upheld death sentences against the Islamist and six other militants in the "second Rafah massacre" case. They were convicted of killing 25 police conscripts in an ambush on a police convoy in August 2013 in the Abu Tawila region, along the Al-Arish-Rafah Road in Sinai. He was also sentenced to death last month on charges of forming a ‘takfiri' group, communicating with the "Islamic State" (IS) militant group, and targeting policemen and army personnel with violence. Habara, also known as Adel Mohamed Ibrahim, was arrested in August 2013 while hiding in the North Sinai town of Al-Arish. Habara is allegedly a leading member in the "Ansar and Mujahideen" jihadist cell. He had earlier been sentenced to death in absentia for participating in the 2005 Dahab and Taba bombings, which were claimed by Al-Qaeda.
