Four men were sentenced to death by a Cairo criminal court on Saturday, in connection wtih a case known in the Egyptian media as the "Tanta terrorist cell."

The sentence is preliminary and will be confirmed after the grand mufti, Egypt's highest Muslim cleric, has given his recommendation. The final verdict is due on 4 September.

The high state security prosecution accused the defendants of forming an illegal group that aimed to obstruct the constitution and law and to attack personal freedoms and public rights.