Life sentence for 11 Brotherhood leaders in Hamas case

CAIRO, Egypt

An Egyptian court on Wednesday gave a life sentence to the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader on charges of conspiring with Palestinian group Hamas.

Shereen Fahmi, the head of the Egyptian court, handed down 25 years to Mohammed Badie and 10 other top leaders of the Egyptian group in the same case.

Among the sentenced Muslim Brotherhood figures were Khairat El-Shater, deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood, along with former Parliament Speaker Saad El-Katatni, ex-lawmaker Mohammed El-Beltagi, and others.

Fahmi said that charges were dropped against late President Mohammed Morsi -- who died this June after collapsing in a courtroom -- but cryptically added that he is "eligible for punishment."

Turkish leaders have decried the mistreatment of the jailed Morsi, suggesting that his death was not due to natural causes.

The court also sentenced three of Morsi's former aides to 10 years in prison, including Issam Al-Haddad.

* Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara