The organisation was behind the assassination of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Osama bin Laden: Thought to be linked to suspects

It also belongs to a network of Islamic extremists headed by Saudi Arabian dissident Osama bin Laden, who has been accused of masterminding last August's bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Sixty defendants are being tried in their absence at the Heikstep military base, north of Cairo. The trial was adjourned until Thursday to allow defence lawyers to study documents.

The Arab press has called it: "The trial of returnees from Albania". Some of the most prominent defendants were extradited from Albania and have already been sentenced to death in absentia.

One of them, Ahmad Ibrahim al Nagar, told reporters in the courtroom that he approved of the attack on the Kenyan embassy.

Jihad members responded furiously to his extradition in July. The organisation accused the US Central Intelligence Agency of taking part in the operation and threatened reprisals just hours before the East Africa bombings.

The Jihad leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is being tried in absentia as are several other prominent members of the group living in London. Both Ayman Zawahiri and his brother Mohammad have already been sentenced to death on other charges.

Jihad is also one of the main militant movements that opposes Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's secular government. Although it has kept a low profile in the country since the mid-1990s, local newspapers say this is the biggest government hit against the group since that time.