CAIRO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian top court overturned Wednesday a previous criminal court order that put 1,538 defendants on the country's terrorist list, official MENA news agency reported.
The list included former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi whose Muslim Brotherhood group is currently outlawed as a terrorist organization.
The Court of Cassation overturned Cairo Criminal Court's former ruling and ordered returning the case to the criminal court for reconsideration, which means that the defendants' removal from the terror list is not final.
Among those cleared from the terror list is retired popular footballer Mohamed Abou Trika, now a sports TV analyst in Qatar, who fled the country after he had been accused of supporting the outlawed group.
Morsi was removed by the army in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule.
A lot of Brotherhood members and loyalists, including Morsi himself and the group's top chief Mohamed Badie, are currently jailed, and many have received appealable death sentences and life imprisonments over charges varying from inciting violence and murder to espionage and jailbreak.
Since Morsi's removal, Egypt has been facing a wave of terror activities that left hundreds of policemen, soldiers and civilians dead.
A Sinai-based group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) regional terrorist group claimed responsibility for most of the terror attacks in Egypt.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian military and police killed hundreds of militants and arrested thousands of suspects as part of the country's anti-terror war declared by newly re-elected President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi's ouster.
