While it gets back Hosni attack accused from Iran

Iran has turned over to Egypt the alleged mastermind of the 1995 assassination attempt on President Hosni Mubarak, an activist said on Sunday, returning one of Egypt’s most-wanted militants in a step towards mending relations.

Egyptian courts have sentenced Moustafa Hamza, leader of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiyya to death in absentia three times since 1992.

Hamza, 48, is in Egyptian custody, an Egyptian security official said. In Iran, a senior Foreign Ministry adviser denied knowledge of the matter.

Hamza has been believed to be under house arrest in Iran since October 2003.

Hani el-Sibaie, a former leader of the outlawed Egyptian group Islamic Jihad who now runs an Islamic affairs research centre in London, said he’d been informed by people within Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiyya that Hamza was handed over to Egypt by Iran ‘‘a few weeks ago’’. —PTI