AN Egyptian-born German woman, who was killed by a German defendant in a court in Dresden, Germany, was the wife of an Egyptian researcher studying for a PhD degree there, said an Egyptian official in Cairo yesterday."Marwa el-Sherbini, who was killed in a German court on Wednesday, was the wife of Elwi Ali Okaz, an Egyptian researcher who was also hurt in the incident,

" added Mohamed Gaber, the head of scholarships department at the Ministry of Higher Education.He added that the Egyptian Embassy in Germany as well as the cultural attaché there visitedAli yesterday. "He is in a critical condition." Okaz is on a scholarship arranged by the Menufia University, a State-run Egyptian univer-sity, to study genetic engineering in Germany, according to Gaber.A German unemployed man of Russian extrac-tion stabbed el-Sherbini, 32, shortly before she was to give evidence in an appeal lodged by the man against a conviction for insulting her over wearing hijab (a headgear). He then used a gun to hurt her husband Okaz, before the police over-powered him.Magdi el-Sayed, the press officer at the German Embassy in Egypt, said that Muslims lived in peace in Germany, stressing that the inci-dent was an isolated act."It is a criminal act. It has nothing to do with persecution against Muslims," el-Sayed told The Gazette in an interview by phone. A court spokesman said the attacker had been fined for insulting the woman at a children's play-ground in August 2008.