Egypt agrees to retrial for Qaeda leader’s brother

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An Egyptian military court ordered a retrial for al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri’s brother, who has spent a decade in jail on charges of joining the banned organisation, the state news agency MENA reported.

Mohammad al-Zawahri was active in the Egyptian militant group Islamic Jihad during the 1990s when Islamists sought to overthrow the government and install a theocracy.

He was accused of taking part in attacks by the group against an array of targets and was extradited from the United Arab Emirates in the late 1990s, Reuters reports.
“The military court decided to enact the procedures for a new trial for him before the Supreme Military Court,” the official news agency said.

Zawahri was freed for a few days last March following the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, along with many prisoners who had completed jail terms during the Mubarak years but were still being detained.

Security sources say he was rearrested after the authorities discovered he was wanted in connection with other cases related to membership in al Qaeda.