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 The law has come under fire from human rights groups who accuse
Sisi, who as military chief deposed a freely elected Islamist
president in 2013, of rolling back freedoms won in the 2011 uprising
that toppled veteran autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Approved on Sunday, the law details sentences for various terrorism
crimes ranging from five years to the death penalty.
It also shields those applying it, such as the military and police,
from legal ramifications for what it calls the proportionate use of
force "in performing their duties".
Sisi had promised a tougher legal system in July after a car bomb
attack in Cairo that killed the chief public prosecutor, the highest
ranking state official to be killed in years.
The law, as reported by state media, said special courts would
"fast-track" terrorism cases but gave no further detail, such as
whether trials would be open or closed to the public.
 Forming or leading a group deemed a "terrorist entity" by the
government will be punishable by death or life in prison under the
new law, and membership in such a group will carry up to 10 years in
jail.
Financing "terrorist groups" will bring a penalty of life in prison,
which in Egypt is 25 years. Inciting violence, which includes
"promoting ideas that call for violence", will lead to 5-7 years in
jail, as would creating or using websites that spread such ideas.
Journalists will be fined for contradicting the authorities' version
of any militant attack. The original draft of the law was amended
following a domestic and international outcry after it initially
stipulated imprisonment for such an offence.
THROWBACK TO MUBARAK ERA
"This is taking us back to the Mubarak era and the 30-year state of
emergency that helped push Egyptians to the streets in 2011,"
Mohamed Elmessiry, Egypt researcher at Amnesty International, said
in a statement.
"Despite security forces having a record of excessive use of force,
this law...paves the way for impunity."
Elmessiry also said the law would in effect remove the current
two-year limit on pre-trial detention by allowing prosecutors to ask
to renew suspects' detention indefinitely.
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"The law contravenes the Egyptian constitution and national laws,
let alone international law," he said.
Egypt, the Arab world's biggest nation, is facing an increasingly
violent insurgency in North Sinai, where the most active militant
group has pledged allegiance to Islamic State. Cairo and other
cities have also witnessed militant attacks.
The insurgency, which has killed hundreds of soldiers and police,
has intensified since mid-2013 when then-army chief Sisi ousted
President Mohamed Mursi, a top figure in the Muslim Brotherhood,
after mass unrest against his rule.
Sisi has since overseen a security crackdown on Islamists. Thousands
of alleged Islamist supporters have been jailed and scores have been
sentenced to death, including Mursi and other senior Brotherhood
figures.
The government considers the Brotherhood a terrorist group and does
not distinguish between it and other militants. The Brotherhood says
it is committed to peaceful activism.
In February, Sisi signed off on another anti-terrorism law that gave
authorities sweeping powers to ban groups on charges ranging from
harming national unity to disrupting public order.
Sisi essentially rules by decree as Egypt's parliament has been
suspended since 2012 when a court dissolved the democratically
elected main chamber, undoing a major accomplishment of the 2011
revolt.
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein, Ehab Farouk and Shadi Bushra;
Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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