New evidence in Egypt journalists trial

Egyptian prosecutors have submitted new evidence against defendants in a trial of Al Jazeera journalists, including Australian Peter Greste, accused of links with the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

At the trial's last hearing, prosecutors aired video footage and showed random photographs that were not linked to the case in which the authorities accuse 20 defendants of Brotherhood links.

Three of them, including Greste, are journalists from Qatar-based Al Jazeera English who have spent more than 100 days in detention, despite an international outcry against the case.

The trial comes at a time of deteriorating ties between Egypt and Qatar, a backer of the Brotherhood, to which ousted president Mohamed Morsi belongs.

At Tuesday's session, prosecutors presented audio recordings against three defendants who allegedly provided videos of pro-Morsi protests to the network's Egyptian channel, Al Jazeera Mubashir Misr.

But defence lawyers complained they were unable to understand the recording due to its poor technical quality.

"If anyone understands the content, please inform us," one of the lawyers told the judges.

One judge responded: "I can hear it from my side".

But journalists reporting on the trial also talked of poor sound quality.

Prosecutors also submitted photographs of maps said to be of the area housing the embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Cairo - a site of some pro-Morsi protests, and leaflets calling for protests.

Photographs also showed bodies on the ground covered in blankets.

When the audio recordings were played, eight defendants who are in custody, dressed in white prison uniforms, talked among themselves in a caged dock, the AFP reporter said.

Prosecutors allege the Al Jazeera journalists colluded with the Brotherhood, now designated a "terrorist" group, and falsely sought to portray Egypt in a state of "civil war".

Al Jazeera English says the allegations against its reporters are absurd.