An Egyptian court decided on Thursday to postpone the trial of the man charged with attempting to bomb a historic synagogue in the heart of Cairo in February 2010. Judicial sources said that the Cairo Criminal Court decided to postpone his trial until Wednesday, March 23.
The accused was supposed to be tried on Saturday, March 19, but the date was put back because the it corresponded with the day of the public referendum on constitutional amendments.
Gamal Ahmed, 49, allegedly placed a makeshift bomb near the Jewish synagogue on Adly Street. No deaths or injuries occurred.
Authorities arrested the suspect on February and referred him for trial. The prosecution charged him with possession of unlicensed explosives and intent to disturb public security and order.
The court received a copy of the suspect's medical report in December 2010, which declared him to be sane, and therefore fully responsible for the act.
According to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Ahmed was connected with an extremist group that burned down videotape shops in 1984. He was not, however, referred for trial in connection with those cases.
The Foreign Ministry also said that Ahmed was a drug addict who has been arrested and tried in relation to several narcotics cases. He was admitted to a public psychiatric clinic in 1991, according to the ministry.
Ahmed has said that his attempted attack on the synagogue was motivated by the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
