17 October 2016•Update: 17 October 2016
By Rabia al-Sukkari
CAIRO
A man wanted by the Egyptian authorities -- earlier sentenced to death in absentia -- was killed Monday west of Cairo in an "exchange of fire" with security forces, according to Egypt’s Interior Ministry.
"Security forces raided an apartment linked to the sister of Ashraf Idriss, who has been sentenced to death in absentia, in the Giza province west of Cairo," the ministry said a statement.
"Security personnel had planned to arrest him when he opened fire on our forces, prompting them to return fire," the ministry asserted.
It added: "The fugitive was killed instantly."
An Egyptian court last month sentenced Idriss to death for allegedly killing a policeman in Giza’s Kerdasa district in 2013 and planning to "establish a terrorist cell" with the aim of targeting Egyptian security personnel.
However, the Cairo-based Egyptian Coordination of Rights and Freedoms, an NGO, cast doubt on the ministry’s account of events, saying in a statement that security forces had "liquidated Idriss before taking his body by ambulance to an unknown location".
Earlier this month, Egyptian security forces also shot dead Mohamed Kamal, a leading member of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, along with his aide, in a police raid on a south Cairo apartment.
The Egyptian authorities similarly claimed that Kamal, 61, and his aide had been killed after opening fire on police.
Egypt has been roiled by turmoil since the army deposed Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first freely elected president, in a 2013 military coup.
Ever since, the security forces have waged a harsh crackdown on Brotherhood members and other political dissidents, killing hundreds and throwing thousands behind bars.
