Egyptian prosecutor Barakat killed in car bomb assassination

CAIRO, June 29 (UPI) -- Hisham Barakat, Egyptian Prosecutor General, was assassinated Monday as a bomb exploded near his car.

The assassination took place as he traveled in a convoy near his home, in Heliopolis, a suburb of Cairo. Barakat, 64, was hospitalized, as were two members of his security staff and one private citizen, state media reported. A bomb-laden car rammed his convoy, security sources said, who later said Barakat died of wounds to the chest.

The attack came the day before the second anniversary of street protesters against former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, and the group Giza Popular Resistance claimed responsibility for the attack.

Barakat is the latest in a series of Egyptian officials targeted by Islamists who regard the judiciary as hostile to their cause. Three judges were shot and killed in Sinai on May 16, coinciding with Morsi's death sentence. Barakat has presided over trials of numerous activists and members of the Muslim Brotherhood, who are Morsi supporters. International observers have condemned the trials and their outcomes.

Barakat was appointed to his position, that of Egypt's top prosecutor, in July, and hundreds of people have since received death sentences. Islamists in Egypt have reacted by increasing attacks against Egyptian government and judiciary members.