Dresden - The trial began Monday of Alex W, a German national of Russian descent, accused of murdering pregnant Egyptian woman Marwa al-Shirbini in a Dresden courtroom in July in an incident which provoked angry reactions in Egypt.

The trial start was delayed more than half an hour due to sharply stepped-up security precautions put in place at the same court where the attack had taken place on July 1, after death threats were made against the 31-year-old defendant, who is accused of having acted out of a fanatical hatred of Muslims.

Alex W attacked Shirbini, 31, during a hearing on an appeal he lodged against a 330-euro (480-dollar) fine he was ordered to pay for verbally abusing the woman at a children's playground in August 2008.

He had called Shirbini a "terrorist" after she asked him to stop sitting on a child's swing so her son could use it, witnesses told police. Shirbini was wearing a headscarf at the time.

During the July hearing, Alex W stabbed Shirbini 18 times, in front of her husband and 3-year-old son, shortly after she had finished giving evidence.

Shirbini's husband, Elwi Ali Okaz, is due to testify in Alex W's trial, a court spokesman announced shortly before the trial opened.

Okaz was also knifed and critically injured by the assailant when he rushed to protect his wife during the courtroom attack.

The killing triggered protests in Shirbini's native Alexandria, where she was dubbed the "martyr of headscarf," and led to calls from Iran for Germany to be condemned by the United Nations.

Over the weekend, the Dresden-based Saxony State Orchestra confirmed it had cancelled two scheduled concerts in Egypt out of security concerns related to the murder trial. The orchestra said it was asked by Cairo authorities not to go ahead with the performances.

Alex W and his family emigrated to Germany in 2003 on grounds of German ancestry.

The unemployed W has been charged with murder, attempted murder and causing aggravated bodily harm. He faces life imprisonment if convicted.(dpa)