An Egyptian court sentenced 26 people to death on Wednesday for plotting attacks on ships passing through the Suez Canal, judicial source said.
The defendants were tried in absentia, according to Agence France-Presse.
An Islamist insurgency has gained momentum since the army overthrew president Mohammad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July.
The court referred the verdict to the mufti, a top Islamic official who under Egyptian law has to validate the sentence, and set March 19 for the final verdict.
