CAIRO: Three leaders of the banned Muslim Brotherhood organisation were hanged at dawn here today [Aug 29] after being convicted last week of plotting to assassinate President Nasser and overthrow the Government by force.

They were Syed Kotb, Youssef Hawash and Abdel Fattah Ismail.

They were the first members of the extremist Brotherhood to be executed since 1954 when the organisation was outlawed and five of its leaders hanged after an attempt to assassinate President Nasser in Alexandria.

Four other members had their death sentences commuted to hard labour for life under a Presidential decree announced here today.

The authoritative newspaper “Al-Ahram” said today their sentences were commuted because of their age — and one of the men, Ashmawy, had made a full confession and led Police to arms caches. — Agencies

[Meanwhile, as reported by agencies from Peking,] Chinese troops and Police guarded the Soviet Embassy today as a massive demonstration began outside its gates.

The demonstrators, most of them wearing the red armband of the “Red Guards”, formally unveiled a new street plaque officially naming the street leading to the Embassy “Struggle Against Revisionism street”.

The demonstration was well organised with people lined up in the streets around the Embassy in an orderly fashion. Thousands jammed into the street leading to the Embassy.

About 100 Chinese troops formed a double line in front of the high wrought iron grill gates of the Embassy compound.

The gates were closed. A few paces in front of them stood huge portraits of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin with Mao Tse-tung which would block any car trying to drive straight into the Embassy.

The demonstrators, each carrying a red booklet of quotations from Mao Tse-tung’s works, shouted slogans in unison denouncing “Soviet revisionism”.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2016