An Egyptian extremist captured in Libya and returned to Cairo was put on trial again Tuesday (June 25th) over five terror attacks, including one for which he has already received a death sentence in absentia, AFP reported.
Hesham Ashmawi -- one of the country's most-wanted militants -- "is accused of carrying out terror operations against the army, police forces and civilians" killing 54 people in total, Ahram Online reported.
His retrial was being held in a military court, the news outlet said.
Ashmawi was sentenced to death in 2017 in absentia by an Egyptian military court over his involvement in attacking and killing soldiers at a checkpoint near the porous border with Libya.
Authorities also have linked Ashmawi with high-profile attacks including a 2013 assassination attempt on then-interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim and the 2015 killing of a top public prosecutor.
He was flown back to Cairo in May, after being handed over by Libyan National Army chief Khalifa Haftar whose forces captured him in 2018 in Derna.
A former officer with Egypt's special forces, Ashmawi was dismissed in 2012 over concerns about his religious views. He joined Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis but broke with the group after it pledged allegiance to the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) in November 2014.
Known as "Abu Omar al-Muhajir", Ashmawi announced the formation of an al-Qaeda-aligned militant group, al-Mourabitoun, in Libya in July 2015.
He is also accused of being behind attacks in Egypt's Western Desert.
