Egypt seeks to extradite fugitive militant from Libya

CAIRO

Egypt is seeking to take Hisham Ashmawi, the country’s most wanted militant, from Libya, one day after being arrested by East Libya-based forces, according to local media on Tuesday.

Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper, citing well-placed sources, said the Egyptian Interpol and the office were preparing a file to be presented to Libyan authorities to extradite Ashmawi to Egypt for trial.

State-run Al Ahram daily quoted local sources as saying that Egypt was set to take Ashmawi to be tried before Egyptian courts. There was no comment from Egyptian authorities on the report.

A former army officer, Ashmawi is blamed by Egyptian authorities for a spate of militant attacks in the country.

Last year, an Egyptian court slapped Ashmawi with a death sentence in connection with the killing of 22 soldiers in a deadly attack in southwestern Egypt in 2014.

Egyptian media say that Ashmawi was the leader of the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Murabitin group in Libya’s eastern city of Derna.

Ashmawi had reportedly left Egypt four years ago in the immediate wake of the 2013 coup against Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely-elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood leader.