Egypt court overturns Morsi death sentence: Judicial official

An Egyptian appeals court has overturned a death sentence handed down against ousted president Mohamed Morsi in one of several trials since his 2013 overthrow, a judicial official said.

The Court of Cassation ordered that Morsi be retried on the charges of participating in prison breaks and violence against policemen during the 2011 uprising which toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak.

Five co-defendants, including the supreme guide of the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, will also be retried.

Morsi was ousted by a military coup led by then-general, now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in July 2013 following mass protests against Morsi's rule.

He was later sentenced to 20 years in prison without parole on charges arising from the alleged killing of protesters in December 2012 as well as being sentenced to 40 years on charges of spying for Qatar.

He was also sentenced to life in prison on charges of spying for Hamas.

Militants, who later declared allegiance to the Islamic State group, have waged an insurgency in Egypt that has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the military overthrow of Morsi.

On Friday, an Egyptian judge involved in the Morsi trial escaped unharmed when a car bomb exploded in Cairo, police officials said.

The officials said the bomb in the eastern Nasr City district had targeted judge Ahmed Abul Fotouh as he was driving by, adding that the blast injured no one.

The attack came days after a roadside bombing targeting a police convoy in Cairo killed a passerby.

In September, militants set off a car bomb as the country's deputy state prosecutor was passing by. He was unharmed.