Egypt's Supreme Emergency State Security Court ordered on Thursday the referral of the death sentences against three Taba bombers to the country's highest religious authority for endorsement, the official MENA news agency reported.

After a session that lasted for ten hours, the court said it found Osama al-Nakhlawe, Younis Aalyan and Mohamed Sabah guilty and deserving capital punishment.

The court adjourned the trial of the 11 defendants till Nov. 30.

All defendants had pleaded not guilty and their defense teams had asked for their acquittal, saying that their confessions were made under duress.

Taba bombings date back to Oct. 6, 2004 when three explosions rocked the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Taba near its border with Israel, killing 39 persons and injuring 150 others.

The main blast happened at Taba Hilton Hotel in the Sinai peninsula, a resort popular with Israelis, while the two others hit backpacker beaches near the resort of Nuweiba, 60km to the south and Ras al-Sheitan near Nuweiba.

(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2006)