Egypt rearrested the brother of Al Qaeda’s second in command, Ayman al-Zawahri, days after he was released from prison as part of a broader effort to free political prisoners jailed under the government of former President Hosni Mubarak.
Muhammad al-Zawahri, a member of Islamic Jihad who is believed to help plan the group’s terrorist attacks, will be retried in relation to a 1998 conviction for which he received the death penalty in absentia, security officials said.
Mr. Zawahri had been jailed since 2000 on charges of conspiring to overthrow the government, but his supporters accused Egypt of holding him to obtain information about his brother. He was released from prison on Thursday, and then arrested again at his home early Sunday.