Egypt's Morsi may face death penalty

, Sep 8: Ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi may face death sentence for leaking national security documents to

, state media reported.

"The indictment issued by the public prosecution has included a number of charges under the penal code that can be punished by the death penalty," Xinhua quoted a judicial source as saying.

The former president along with 10 others will face trial over charges of handing national security files to the Qatari intelligence and Doha-based Al-Jazeera news channel under orders from the international organisation of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Relations between Qatar and Egypt have been tense since mid- 2013 after Morsi was toppled by the army, following massive protests against his rule.

Qatar is a key ally of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, which was designated as a terrorist organization by the Egyptian government in December last year.

Morsi is now being tried in three other cases for inciting deadly violence against protesters, conspiring with foreign organisations and involvement in a mass prison escape during the 2011 protests that toppled former Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak.

IANS