EGYPTIAN prosecutors will put three men on trial for their part in the drive-by shooting that left six Christians and one Muslim dead in the southern governorate of Qena last week, legal sources said Friday. Witnesses have told police and prosecutors that they saw the main suspect, identified as Mohamed Ahmed Hassan, alias Hamam el-Kamouni, spraying a group of Coptic Christians with bullets from a machine gun, as they left a local church after mass on Christmas Eve. They also identified the other suspects as Hindawi Sayyed Mohamed and Qurashi Abul Hagag, whom authorities described as men with criminal records. The witnesses testified that Hindawi and Qurashi were helping el-Kamouni during the attack. Within the next three days, the suspects will be indicted on charges of premeditated murder, illegal possession of firearms, and intimidating people, the sources said. They added that these crimes are punishable by death under Egyptian law. However, Hindawi and Qurashi have denied they were involved in the attack, which also left nine people wounded, some seriously, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the on-going investigation. The three suspects, who surrendered to police last Friday after security forces closed in on their hideout in sugar cane fields outside the town, will remain in custody pending further investigation, the sources said.
