The North Cairo Criminal Court ruled on Thursday that the last suspect in the al-Hussein bombings should be released.
The bombing occurred near al-Azhar and the popular tourist destination of Khan al-Khalili market in February 2009. The explosion happened close to the famous centuries old market in a street lined with restaurants and souvenir shops. Twenty five people were injured including 18 French tourists, one of whom, a 17-year-old girl, died in hospital from her injuries.
The court's decision means that the real perpetrators of the bombing have not yet been identified.
The suspects' lawyer, Mahmoud al-Arabi, said that the court ruled to release Ahmed Mohamed Sadeeq, who was accused of being the leader of the group of suspects detained by security authorities in the months after the incident. The group of 12 included suspects from Belgium, Britain, France, Australia and Palestine. They were released after nine months of investigation by state security and returned to their countries.
Al-Arabi explained that Sadeeq was one of the suspects who had fled the scene, and that his family had later given him up to the state security agency. The prosecution had accused him of leading the group that carried out the attacks and of founding a terrorist organization aimed at disrupting state institutions, in violation of the law and constitution.
He added that the court had ruled to release him, like the other suspects, and has closed the investigation in the case permanently, without having found the perpetrators.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
