Egypt has opened an investigation into deposed president Mohamed Morsi for allegedly handing over to Qatar “documents relevant to national security,” state news agency MENA reported on Wednesday.
Morsi is already facing the death penalty in several trials and his supporters have been the target of a bloody crackdown by the authorities that has left more than 1,400 dead since he was turfed out in July 2013.
The former leader is suspected of providing “documents relevant to national security to Qatar via the Qatari Al-Jazeera chain when he was president of the republic damaging the country´s national security”, said MENA.
In March Egypt´s interior minister accused Morsi´s secretary Amin El-Serafi of having delivered documents regarding the army, its armaments and the deployment of its troops to a chief editor of Al-Jazeera and member of the Islamist president´s Muslim Brotherhood.
The movement was listed as a terrorist group after Morsi´s overthrow on July 3, 2013.
Relations between Egypt and Qatar soured after Morsi´s ouster, as Cairo criticised the rich emirate´s backing for the Muslim Brotherhood and Doha slammed Egypt´s crackdown on Morsi supporters.
