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Military court postpones verdict in ‘Al-Sisi assassination' case Defendants accused of attempting to assassinate president during visit to Saudi Arabia
The Military Court postponed on Wednesday the verdict on 292 defendants in the case where they are accused of plotting to assassinate President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and the former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, until 9 December. The defendants were present in the trial session, amid heavy security. The judge allowed families of the defendants to attend the session. The defendants are accused of forming 22 militant cells adhering to the Sinai Province groups which operates in North Sinai. Since 2013, Egypt has been rocked by several terrorist attacks targeting hundreds of security personnel, mostly carried out by the Islamic State terrorist group's branch in Sinai. 158 of the defendants are present while the rest are being tried in absentia. The defendants are also accused of killing five judges in North Sinai. According to the accusations which were published by state media, the defendants planned the assassination of president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi while he was on a visit to Saudi Arabia in 2016. Last October, Egypt's military spokesperson, Tamer El-Rafie, said during an interview with Saudi owned Al-Arabiya channel that over 450 militants were killed since the launch of operation ‘Sinai 2018' earlier this year. Aiming to counter terrorism, the military launched last February a comprehensive operation, dubbed ‘Sinai 2018', to confront militants in central and North Sinai, the Nile Delta region, and the Western Desert. The operation involves land, naval, and air forces, as well as the police, and border guards. In November 2017, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al- Sisi ordered the Egyptian army and police forces to restore stability and security in the Sinai Peninsula within three months, using the "utmost force."
