An Egyptian court on Wednesday postponed the trial of a suspect charged with setting off a bomb near a Jewish synagogue in downtown Cairo on 21 February this year.
Gamal Ahmed, 49, allegedly placed a makeshift bomb near the Jewish Monastery on Adly Street. No deaths or injuries occured as a result.
The Cairo Misdemeanor Court delayed the trial until 15 January to provide sufficient time to hear the public prosecution and defense arguments, judicial sources said.
Authorities arrested the suspect in late February and referred him for trial.
The prosecution charged Ahmed with possession of unlicensed explosives and intent to disturb public security and order.
The court on Wednesday received a copy of the suspect's medical report. The report declares him sane and, therefore, fully responsible for the act.
According to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Ahmed was connected with an extremist group that burned down videotape shops in 1984. He was not, however, referred for trial in those cases.
The Foreign Ministry has also said Ahmed is a drug addict who has been arrested and tried in several drug trade and addiction cases. He was also admitted to a public psychiatric clinic in 1991, according to the ministry.
Ahmed previously said the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories motivated his attempted attack on the synagogue.
