Egypt court delays verdict in Jazeera journalists' trial

CAIRO

An Egyptian court has postponed its verdict in the retrial of two Al Jazeera television journalists charged with “broadcasting false news” to August 29, a local judicial source said Sunday.

Mohamed Fahmy, a Canadian national who has given up his Egyptian citizenship, and Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian citizen, were both earlier convicted of “broadcasting false news” and “threatening Egypt’s national security”.

A third Al Jazeera journalist -- Peter Greste, an Australian national who had faced the same raft of charges -- was deported in January.

In February, an Egyptian court ordered a retrial for the three reporters.

The trio was originally detained in Cairo in 2013 shortly after the Egyptian authorities branded the Muslim Brotherhood -- the group from which former President and Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi hails -- a “terrorist” organization.

The court had been scheduled to deliver its final verdict on July 30, but delayed it until August 2 -- and then again to August 29 -- amid reports that the judge in the case had fallen ill.

Several western governments and rights groups have called for the journalists' release amid an international solidarity campaign led by Al Jazeera.

The Egyptian government accuses the Qatar-based Al Jazeera of harboring bias in favor of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group -- an allegation the channel denies.

Relations between Cairo and Doha have been tense due to the latter's criticism of Morsi's ouster in a 2013 military coup.