Mohammed Morsi death sentence postponed for 2 weeks by Egypt court

An Egyptian court has set June 16 as the date to decide on Mohammed Morsi's death sentence after it receives the opinion in the matter from the country's Grand Mufti Shawki Allam.

Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, was overthrown by the military in July 2013 after millions staged demonstrations demanding he step down and a military crackdown was launched.

The 63-year-old, who once led the Muslim Brotherhood, was sentenced to death in May over a mass prison break during Egypt's 2011 uprising that eventually brought him to power, but according to Egyptian law, all death sentences must be reviewed by the top cleric.

Brotherhood crackdown continues

Morsi's sentencing date was originally scheduled for Tuesday.

Egypt has also arrested two other senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders, an official said Tuesday.

The two top Islamists — Abdel-Rahman el-Bar, the Brotherhood's top religious cleric, and Mahmoud Ghozlan, the group's former spokesman and a member of its top decision-making body — were arrested late Monday while hiding in Giza, a suburb outside Cairo, according to a security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

The arrests were the latest in an ongoing crackdown on the Brotherhood, which has been banned as a terrorist organization and accused of orchestrating attacks on policemen, judges, army officers and public figures across Egypt. Dozens of Islamist leaders have been put on trial and many were given death sentences, forcing scores into hiding.

Confrontational tactics

After almost two years of constant pressure and persecution by authorities, the 87-year-old Brotherhood — once the country's most influential group — has been shaken by deepening divisions within its highly disciplined ranks.

A younger generation of Islamists is pushing for more violent and confrontational tactics, analysts say, while the older generation, at least in official announcements, insists on "peaceful means" of resistance.

A Brotherhood spokesman, Mohammed Montassir, described the latest arrests on his Facebook page as a "failed attempt … to disrupt the revolutionaries across the nation."

Separately, Egyptian state TV announced Monday that police have foiled several Brotherhood plots to assault symbols of the government such as the police, army and judges, as well as media, political and public figures.

The group has distanced itself from the assassinations and suicide bombings that have rocked the country over the past two years.