Cairo, Jan 6 (Aswat Masriya) - The Cairo Criminal Court postponed on Wednesday former president Mohamed Mursi's trial, in which he is accused of espionage, to Jan 31.

Mursi and 10 other Muslim Brotherhood figures are accused of "spying" and "leaking confidential documents" concerning Egyptian state security to Qatari intelligence.

A statement released Sept 2014 by  then Egypt's top prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, said the defendants leaked the intelligence with the help of eight "spies" and in exchange for a million dollars, adding that they were carrying out the instructions of the "terrorist" Muslim Brotherhood international organisation.

Egyptian-Qatari ties have been strained since Mursi's military ouster, as the current authorities view Qatar as a Brotherhood sympathiser.

Egypt's former president faces an array of charges in several other cases including inciting the killing of protesters outside the presidential palace during his tenure in December 2012, insulting the judiciary, escaping prison during the January 25 uprising in 2011, as well as facing a separate espionage case.