An Egyptian court has struck out a life sentence and ordered the retrial of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi on charges of conspiring with foreign militant groups, including the Palestinian Hamas.

Tuesday's decision by the Appeals Court in Cairo comes nearly 17 months after the initial sentence against Morsi, from the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Along with Morsi's life sentence, those of 16 others, including the group's spiritual leader Mohammed Badei, were thrown out.

The court also overturned death sentences against powerful Muslim Brotherhood figure Khairyat el-Shater and 15 others, most of who were tried in their absence.

No new date has been set for the retrial.

Since Morsi was ousted by the military in 2013, he has been in solidarity confinement and has faced several court cases on different charges.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.