Egypt Jails 23 for Shiite Killings

An Egyptian court has sentenced 23 people to 14 years in prison for the killings by an angry mob of four Shiite men outside Cairo two years ago.

The four dead were among Shiites attacked in June 2013 by a mob of several hundred residents as they gathered at a house in the town of Abu Musallam.

The court handed down the sentences on Saturday, acquitting eight other defendants, a court official said.

Shiites are a tiny minority in mainly Sunni Muslim Egypt, making up less than one percent of the population.

Radical Islamist preachers have often targeted the Shiite community in sermons, accusing them of being under the influence of Shiite Iran.