CAIRO, June 16 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The United States has handed over to Egypt an Egyptian man convicted of participation in the 1981 assassination of late president Anwar Sadat, the U.S. embassy said Sunday.

"Nabil Soliman, the man convicted in absentia by an Egyptian court of participation in the assassination of former president Anwar Sadat, was removed from the United States to Egypt on June 12, 2002," said a statement made by U.S. embassy.

"Soliman was taken into custody by Egyptian authorities upon arrival at Cairo Airport," it added.

Soliman "had been in the United States since 1992" and his extradition "follows the conclusion of appropriate legal proceedings concerning Mr. Soliman, who was removed for being in the United States illegally," the statement said.

Egyptian security officials told Agence-France Presse (AFP) Soliman was a member of the Islamic Jihad group and was sentenced in absentia in 1982 to five years in jail for participation in the killing of Sadat.

However, news agencies reported that the case of the assassination of Sadat does not include the name of Nabil Soliman.

The court has sentenced 22 persons with different verdicts, with no one among them with the name of Nabil Soliman, news agencies reported.

U.S. Ambassador David Welch said: "Soliman's removal, coming after successful bilateral discussions, is another example of the close U.S.-Egyptian cooperation in the war against terror."

It demonstrates "the American commitment to working closely with our friends and allies to eradicate this scourge," he said in the embassy statement.