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Smoke rises from burning vehicles at the site of an explosion targeted Egypt’s top prosecutor convoy in Cairo, Egypt, Monday 29 June, 2015 (Photo: Ihab Mourad)
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Uprooted Palestinian 
Smoke rises from burning vehicles at the site of an explosion targeted Egypt’s top prosecutor convoy in Cairo, Egypt, Monday 29 June, 2015 (Photo: Ihab Mourad)
Ahram Online
29 Jun 2015
29 Jun 2015
Egypt’s top prosecutor Hisham Barakat died from injuries sustained in a Cairo bomb attack on Monday, the first successful assassination attempt against a state official since an upswing in violence following the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
Barakat suffered internal bleeding in the lungs and stomach and fractures to the nose and left shoulder, health ministry spokesperson Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar told Ahram Online. He had been taken to the operating room at Al-Nozha hospital in Heliopolis, where he succumbed to his injuries hours after the attack.
Nine people, including two drivers and five members of the security forces, were injured when a bomb hit the prosecutor’s convoy near the military academy in the upscale district of Heliopolis, Abdel-Ghaffar said. The blast damaged the fronts of nine houses and destroyed 31 vehicles, four of which were torched, a security source told state news agency MENA.
Nine people, including two drivers and five members of the security forces, were injured when a bomb hit the prosecutor’s convoy near the military academy in the upscale district of Heliopolis, Abdel-Ghaffar said. The blast damaged the fronts of nine houses and destroyed 31 vehicles, four of which were torched, a security source told state news agency MENA.
Egypt’s state TV has reported that a military funeral will take place for Barakat Tuesday noon in El-Moshir Tantawy Mosque in Cairo’s upper class Fifth Settlement.
“Egypt has lost a great judicial figure who has shown dedication to work and commitment to the ethics of the noble judicial profession,” Egypt’s presidency said in a statement, describing the attack as an “act of terrorism”.
The presidency also announced the cancellation of celebrations commemorating the second anniversary of the 30 June events, in which Morsi was ousted from power.
The US embassy in Cairo issued a short statement condemning the assassination of Barakat, describing it as “heinous terrorist attack”.
President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met with Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar right after the attack. El-Sisi urged the ministry to tighten security measures and find the perpetrators.
Foreign Affairs Minister Sameh Shoukry mourned the loss of Barakat and renewed calls for the international community to rise up to the level of terrorist threat worldwide in order to eliminate it.
Egypt’s political parties from across the political spectrum, including as the ultra-conservative Salafist Nour Party and left-of-center Constitution Party condemned the attack and mourning the loss of Barakat.
Also on Monday, the Islamic State-affiliated jihadist group Sinai Province, previously known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis before proclaiming allegiance to IS, released a video that shows their attack on judges in North Sinai’s Al-Arish in May. A title at the bottom of the screen reads “Assassination of five of the tyrant’s judges.”
The IS-affiliated Sinai Province claimed responsibility for a number of large-scale militant attacks across Egypt, including the first assassination attempt against a state official, which former Egypt interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim escaped unscathed in September 2013. The bomb attack on Ibrahim in Cairo left one civilian dead and 21 injured, including six policemen and a child.
Islamist militants, who have primarily targeted security forces since the removal of Morsi over the past two years, have more recently targeted several judges amid the conviction of many Morsi supporters in terror-related cases. In January, a bomb attack targeting judge Khaled Mahgoub, who is representing the general prosecution in Morsi’s jailbreak trial, caused damage to the windows and walls of his house.
In March, a small bomb was left in front of the house of judge Fathi Bayoumi, who investigated the corruption charges against Mubarak-era interior minister Habib El-Adly. The words “a gift for El-Adly’s acquittal” were scribbled on a wall near the attack.
Supporters of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood accuse Egypt’s judiciary of issuing politicised sentences, including against the group’s supreme guide Mohamed Badie and Morsi, who also hails from the Brotherhood. Both are among dozens of the now banned group’s members who have been sentenced to death during the past year.
Sixty-five-year-old Barakat was sworn in as Egypt’s top prosecutor under the rule of interim president Adly Mansour in July 2013 following the resignation of Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud. He was due to keep his position until 2020.
Barakat referred thousands of pro-Muslim Brotherhood supporters and Islamists to court on various charges including “belonging to the Brotherhood” as well as “terror-related acts”. Hundreds were sentenced to life in prison and death as a result.
Egypt presidency mourns prosecutor-general
Egypt’s presidency has mourned General-Prosecutor Hisham Barakat who was killed in a bomb attack on his convoy earlier Monday.
“Egypt has lost a great judicial figure that has shown dedication to work and commitment to the ethics of the noble judicial profession,” the presidency said in a statement, describing the attack as an act of terrorism.
It also announced the cancelation of celebrations commemorating the second anniversary of the 30 June events, in which Islamist president Mohamed Morsi was ousted from power in 2013.
Egypt’s state TV has reported that a military funeral will take place for Barakat Tuesday noon in El-Moshir Tantawy Mosque in upper class Cairo’s Fifth Settlement.
Nine people, including two drivers and five members of the security forces, were also injured when a bomb hit the prosecutor’s convoy near the military academy in Heliopolis.
Barakat’s death marks the first successful assassination attempt against a state official since an upswing in violence following the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
An attack on ex-interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim’s convoy failed in 2013.
Islamist militants, who have primarily targeted security forces since the removal of Morsi, have also attacked several judges.
In May, three judges and their driver were killed when gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in the North Sinai city of Al-Arish.
The 65-year-old prosecutor Barakat was sworn in as Egypt’s top prosecutor under the rule of interim president Adly Mansour in July 2013 following the resignation of Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud.
Egypt appoints new acting top prosecutor
A judicial source said that Zakaria Abd El-Aziz Osman has been appointed as Egypt’s acting prosecutor-general, following the assassination of the country’s top prosecutor Hisham Barakat earlier on Monday, the Ahram Arabic news website has reported.
Abd El-Aziz, who was a judge at the Cairo Court of Appeal, had served as assistant prosecutor-general since April.
He will now assume the duties of the prosecutor-general until the appointment of a new prosecutor-general.
Terrorists release judges’ killing video
Snapshot from a video by Sinai Province released on Monday 29 June, 2015 capturing the moment militants killed three judges last May
Islamic State-affiliated jihadists Sinai Province, previously known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, have released a video showing their attack on a microbus in North Sinai’s Al-Arish, which killed three judges and the driver on 16 May.
The video shows a vehicle following a microbus, then approaching it from its left, after which gunshots are fired at the microbus, shattering its windows and penetrating its door.
A title at the bottom of the screen reads “Assassination of five of the tyrant’s judges.”
Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis pledged allegiance to the Islamic State jihadist group on 30 June 2014, after which it changed its name to Sinai Province.
The Salafist jihadist group has carried out a number of attacks against security forces, inside and outside Sinai, and was designated a terrorist group by Egypt, the UAE, the UK and the United States.
On Monday, an explosion targeting the convoy of Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat left him injured together with five other security members and one civilian. Barakat is being treated at Al-Nozha hospital in Heliopolis.
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