El Farmawi, regarded as a leading Brotherhood operative, has been held
in detention since April 2008. He has been charged as the leading
Brotherhood liasion with Hamas.
Prosecutors have alleged that El Farmawi oversaw a Brotherhood effort to
help Hamas's new military. They said El Farmawi relayed funds and expertise
to purchase unmanned aerial vehicles for the Hamas military.
El Farmawi's alleged accomplice was identified as Bassam Adel Mahmoud.
Mahmoud, also a Brotherhood member, has been based in El Arish, the capital
of the northern governorate in Sinai.
The prosecution said the Brotherhood's effort was aimed to provide Hamas
with a combat aerial capability against Israel. The planned Hamas UAVs were
meant to
be fitted with large bombs that could strike military and civilian
facilities in southern Israel.
The Brotherhood effort was also said to have included another two
operatives. They were identified as Mohammed Imad and Nizar Rayan. Rayan was
said to be a leading Hamas operative who infiltrated Egypt.
Egyptian authorities have refused a defense request to release the
60-year-old El Farmawi on bail. El Farmawi's attorney, Abdul Muneium Abdul
Maqsoud, said his client's health was deteriorating in prison.