of premeditated murder, attacking tourists and damaging the economy through violence and terrorism. Seven other men had been charged with providing the brothers with weapons used in the attack. Of these, one was sentenced to 10 years in jail with hard labour and five to prison terms ranging from 15 months to seven years. One man was acquitted. At the start of the trial that began on October 14, Saber el-Ela said his only regret was that the victims of the September 18 attack in central Cairo had not been Jews. Saber has said he espouses Islamist ideology but was not a member of any of the Moslem militant groups that have been waging a bloody campaign to topple the government. Some have attacked tourists in an effort to cripple the economy. In a statement earlier this month, the largest group, al-Gama'a al-Islamiya (Islamic Group), hailed the "mujahideen" brothers and warned tourists not to come to Egypt. Military court verdicts cannot be appealed, but sentences can only be carried out after they have been approved by the president as supreme commander of the armed forces. President Hosni Mubarak began to refer Islamist militants to the speedy justice of military courts in 1992, ignoring criticism from human rights groups. So far 90 death sentences have been issued and 57 carried out, all but two by hanging. The bus attack in Cairo's crowded Tahrir Square was the first on tourists since Gama'a activists shot dead 18 Greek tourists they mistook for Israelis in April 1996. Nearly 1,100 people, including 34 foreigners, have been killed in a five-year armed campaign by Moslem militants to set up a purist Islamic state in Egypt.