CAIRO: The cousin and former aide of slain Libyan leader Moamer Qadhafi appeared in court on Monday charged with the attempted murder of Egyptian police officers, an AFP reporter said.

Ahmed Qaddaf al-Dam denied the charges which also included possessing unlicensed weapons and resisting arrest.

The brief hearing was adjourned to Wednesday.

Qaddaf al-Dam was detained in Cairo in March after a gunfight with police in his apartment and has been held in Egypt despite Libyan demands for his extradition.

Tripoli had lodged an appeal last month against an Egyptian court ruling blocking his extradition to Libya. The court ruled that Qaddaf al-Dam should be tried in Egypt.

On the day of his arrest, Qaddaf al-Dam and his bodyguards allegedly fired a hail of bullets at masked policemen who stormed his apartment in an upscale Cairo neighbourhood, witnesses said.

Qaddaf al-Dam, who had an Egyptian residency permit, oversaw relations between Tripoli and Cairo but resigned from his post in February 2011 after the start of the revolt against Qadhafi.