Egyptian court to confirm death of Jihadist

Fourteen Islamist militants are expected to receive the capital punishment in Cairo on Monday. The group were given a pending death sentence in August, waiting for the approval of Egypt's Grand Mufti, an essential step before issuing a definite death penalty according to the Egyptian law. The Ismailiya Criminal Court convicted the members of Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad militant group for attacking a police station in el-Arish and an Alexandria bank in Northern Sinai. Five policemen and one civilian died. 25 Jihadists were charged in total. Eleven of them will be sentenced  on Monday for the first time.. Another 14 were also convicted of attempting to murder 12  security guards who were by the bank and the police station during the attacks and of stealing arms and ammunition. The sentence was pending until the approval of Egypt's top cleric who must approve executions before Cairo's court can apply them. However, the Grand Mufti rarely opposes death sentence. Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (meaning "Monotheism and Holy War") is an al-Qaeda-affiliated group and is believed to have close ties with other militant cells in Sinai. The verdict came as Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi was running a campaign against Jihadist groups in Sinai after militants hijacked military carriers and attacked the Gazan-Egyptian border, killing 16 Egyptian border guards before being stopped by an Israeli airstrike.