Cairo Criminal Court on Monday referred ten defendants to Egypt's Grand Mufti, the highest religious authority in the country, to get his religious view on the ruling after it sentenced them to death over a case known as 'al Zawahiri terrorist cell'.

The court set September 27 to issue its final verdict.

The ten were among 68 others, including Mohamed Rabie, brother of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri, who have been tried over charges which include founding and running an al Qaeda-linked terrorist organization that targeted state institutions, armed forces, police and Copts to create a state of chaos and put at stake the security of the nation.