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| Egypt blogger jailed for 'insult' | Egypt blogger jailed for 'insult' |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| An Egyptian court has sentenced an internet blogger to four years' prison for insulting Islam and the president. | An Egyptian court has sentenced an internet blogger to four years' prison for insulting Islam and the president. |
| Abdel Kareem Nabil's trial was the first time that a blogger had been prosecuted in Egypt. | Abdel Kareem Nabil's trial was the first time that a blogger had been prosecuted in Egypt. |
| He had used his weblog to criticise the country's top Islamic institution, the al-Azhar university and President Hosni Mubarak, whom he called a dictator. | He had used his weblog to criticise the country's top Islamic institution, the al-Azhar university and President Hosni Mubarak, whom he called a dictator. |
| A human rights group called the verdict "very tough" and a "strong message" to Egypt's thousands of bloggers. | |
| Nabil, 22, was tried in his native city of Alexandria. | |
| A former student at al-Azhar, he called the institution "the university of terrorism" and accused it of suppressing free thought. | |
| The university expelled him in 2006 and pressed prosecutors to put him on trial. | |
| During the five-minute court session the judge said Nabil was guilty and would serve three years for insulting Islam and inciting sedition, and one year for insulting Mr Mubarak. | |
| Egypt arrested a number of bloggers who had been critical of the government during 2006, but they were all freed. | |
| "This is a strong message to all bloggers who are put under strong surveillance that the punishment will very strong," Hafiz Abou Saada of the Egyptian Human Rights Organisation told Associated Press. |