CAIRO_ Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi has warned that the country cannot be stable until he is returned to power.

In a statement read out by lawyers who met him in prison, he said he had been kidnapped and held against his will since the military deposed him in July.

He also denounced as illegitimate the court that is trying him on charges of inciting murder and violence.

Mr Morsi also refused to name any lawyers to defend him in the trial, which has been adjourned until 8 January.

He is one of thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members to have been detained over the past four months in a crackdown the interim authorities have portrayed as a struggle against "terrorism".

Hundreds of people have also been killed in clashes with security forces.