A hard-line Egyptian Muslim preacher has been given an 11-year
suspended sentence for tearing up and burning a Bible, in a rare case of
Egypt's blasphemy laws being applied to a slight against the Christian
faith.Ahmed Abdullah, also known as Abu Islam, destroyed the Bible during an 11 September rally in front of the US Embassy in Cairo, protesting against an anti-Islam film produced in the US.
His son received an eight-year suspended sentence for the same incident.
Both verdicts can be appealed.
Egypt has seen an upsurge in accusations of blasphemy against Islam, with Amnesty International saying that bloggers, media professionals and Coptic Christians make up the majority of those accused.