Egypt's Morsi faces trial for prison break, murder

Egypt's deposed president Mohamed Morsi (pic) and 132 others, including members of Hamas, will stand trial for a prison break and the murder of officers during the 2011 uprising, prosecution sources said.

The other defendants include leaders of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, who also escaped from the Wadi al-Natrun prison during the revolt against Hosni Mubarak, and prominent Qatar-based cleric Yousef al-Qaradawi, the sources said.

Members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah were also named in the indictment.

The Islamist, ousted in July by the military, is already on trial for allegedly inciting the killings of opposition activists during his one year in power.

He will also stand trial for "espionage" involving Hamas, prosecutors said early this week.

He had been under investigation for a January 28, 2011 prison break along with members of the Brotherhood, during a nationwide revolt against Mubarak's rule.

Amid a breakdown in law and order, riots had broken out in several prisons, and thousands of inmates escaped over several days with outside help.

Prosecutors say the prisons came under attack by elements from the Brotherhood, Hamas and Hezbollah to free Islamist inmates.

Several members of the Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups were imprisoned in Egyptian jails and escaped during the unrest.