Cairo thwarts death plot

CAIRO (Reuter) - Egypt had thwarted a campaign of violence aimed at government ministers and economic centres, the Interior Minister, Hassan el-Alfi, said. The plan was to kill 12 prominent people, including ministers and media figures and blow up eight economic centres.

A leader of the planned campaign had been Salah Mohammad Attiyah, a local leader of el-Gamaa el-Islamiya (Islamic Group), who was killed in a police raid on Wednesday. The group has campaigning for two years to overthrow the government and turn Egypt into a strict Islamic state.