An inquest into the death of a suspected Egyptian Mossad spy has opened at City of Westminster Coroners ' Court.

Dr Ashraf Marwan, a close aide of Anwar Sadat before the then Egyptian President was assassinated, was found to have fallen from the balcony of his London home in 2007. He was 62.

Before his death he had been named by several sources both as a Mossad spy and as a double agent for Egypt.

An Israeli historian alleged in 2002 that Dr Marwan had alerted Israel of Egypt and Syria’s plans to attack on Yom Kippur of 1973.

The investigation has been opened after a request by Dr Marwan’s relatives.

His wife Mona, daughter of the former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, told the Observer newspaper that she blames the Israeli intelligence agency for his death.

The inquest is expected to conclude this week.