Two of the 14 accused stand behind bars moments before the court handed down sentences in Cairo, 20 Aug 2007

An Egyptian court has jailed nine Egyptians for their role in a series of 2005 terrorist attacks that killed three foreign tourists.

Court officials say four suspects were sentenced to life in prison at Monday's hearing. Five others, including two women, received jail terms ranging from one to 10 years.

The court acquitted four suspects and postponed the sentencing of another who was sick and unable to attend.

The suspects were charged in three attacks.

The first attack, a suicide bomb blast, struck a famous bazaar in Cairo's al-Azhar district in April 2005, killing two French tourists and one American. The attack wounded 18 others.

Later that month, a suicide bomber attacked a group of tourists, detonating explosives as he jumped off a bridge near Cairo's Egyptian Museum. Within hours, two veiled women with ties to the bridge attacker opened fire on a tourist bus near the city's Citadel. The attackers were the only ones killed in those two incidents.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.