The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s former supreme guide Mahdi Akef died on Friday at the age of 89 after a struggle with illness. The news was made public online by his daughter Alia.
Akef, who served as the Brotherhood’s supreme guide from January 2004 to January 2010, had been serving a prison sentence prior to being transferred to hospital in January this year.
In 2015, he was sentenced to life in prison along with several other Muslim Brotherhood leaders.
He had been arrested one day after the 2013 ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood, and charged with inciting violence outside the group’s headquarters in Mokattam.
His prison sentence was being appealed at the time of his death.
The Egyptian government designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group in late 2013.