Ousted Egyptian President Mubarak leaves prison

Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been released from prison
following a court order.
Egypt’s state TV reported that a medical helicopter flew him from the
Torah Prison to a military hospital, both in Cairo.
The release of Mubarak, 85, who ruled Egypt with an iron fist and was
overthrown in 2011 as the Arab Spring swept away Arab leaders, has
angered many people and protests are anticipated after prayers on
Friday.
Mubarak, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption,
was on Wednesday ordered by a court to be released on bail as further
investigations into the charges continued.
This gave credence to the assertion by the Muslim Brotherhood, the
organisation to which ousted President Mohamed Morsi belongs, that the
military was back in power and wanted to reverse the 2011 revolution.
The local media said the court ruling did not mean that he had been
acquitted of the corruption charges.
He is also facing a retrial for the killing of protesters in 2011.
Egypt has been thrown into a state of confusion since July 3 when the
military removed Morsi from power after tens of thousands of people
flocked to Tahrir Square demanding his departure.
A series of clashes between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and
security forces have claimed the lives of more than 800 people in one
week.
A state of emergency has been imposed on the North African country
while a night curfew is in force following the August 14 bloody
clampdown on pro-Morsi and anti-coup supporters who held sit-ins in
two camps in Cairo for about six weeks demanding Morsi’s
reinstatement.
More than 630 people were officially said to have died on that day
while the Muslim Brotherhood has put the figure at more than 2,000.
Meanwhile, the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood by the Egyptian
military continued on Thursday when the group’s spokesman, Ahmed
Aaref, was arrested and taken to prison.
The Egyptian media reported that Aaref was arrested in the early hours
of Thursday in the capital city of Cairo and taken under heavy
security to Torah Prison.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s spokesman now joins a growing list of the
group’s leadership and members now under custody.
Group’s spiritual leader Mohamed Badie, Deputy Khirate Shater and
Islamic preacher Safwat Hegazi are among the over 100 Muslim
Brotherhood members who were arrested earlier.
Morsi, elected under a party that flew the group’s banner, is also in
detention, following his ouster by the military.
The arrests of Muslim Brotherhood’s leader and members, as well as
hints of the interim government looking at the legal framework for its
dissolution, sets the stage for an all-out bitter clash between the
military and the movement, which was banned some 60 years ago but
worked underground.
PANA/NAN.