Egypt: Al Qaeda’s Hisham Ashmawi among 37 militants sentenced to death

Egypt’s most wanted militant has been sentenced to death by a Cairo court along with 37 others convicted on terror-related charges.

All of the defendants had been arrested because of their links to Egypt’s ISIS affiliate in the Sinai, formerly known as Ansar Beit Al Maqdis, the criminal court said.

Hisham Ashmawi, a former special operations officer with the Egyptian Army, played a pivotal role in building up the capabilities of the militant group.

Ansar Bait Al Maqdis, under the auspices of Al Qaeda, spearheaded a violent insurgency against the Egyptian state in the remote desert region before pledging allegiance to ISIS in 2014.

Authorities have linked Ashmawi to an assassination attempt against then-interior minister Mohammed Ibrahim in 2013.