Egypt Military Courts To Handle Terrorism Cases

The Egyptian government said on Saturday that it planned to amend Egypt's military courts law to add cases of "terrorism" to the work of these courts.



It added in a statement that the cabinet agreed during its meeting on Saturday to introduce amendments to the military courts law with the aim of adding terrorism cases that "jeopardize Egypt's security" to the work of the military courts.



This announcement comes only one day after 26 Egyptian troops were killed and dozens of others injured in a terrorist attack on a military site in the Sinai Peninsula, northeastern Egypt.



The cabinet said the amendments would add to the work of the military courts aggressions against army and police personnel and facilities as well as public utilities.  



Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi holds his country's legislative power in the absence of a parliament after the dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated 2012 parliament.



The cabinet said in its statement that the government would go ahead with the transitional roadmap, which was adopted by the nation's political forces – except for the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement from which ousted president Mohamed Morsi hails – and the army upon Morsi's ouster in July 2013.



In early October, an Egyptian official said that Egypt's anti-terrorism bill would be presented to President al-Sisi for approval "soon."



The official added that Egypt's security conditions made it necessary for the law not to wait for approval from the next parliament. Egypt has not set a date of its parliamentary elections yet.



Following the Sinai terrorist attack, Egypt's National Defense Council, which is headed by the President and includes top army generals as members, decided to impose an indefinite state of emergency in North Sinai and also close the Rafah crossing on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.



By Mohamed Shadi



englishnews@aa.com.tr



www.aa.com.tr/en - Kahire