The mass-exodus of hundreds of prisoners held on terrorism-related charges continued this week in Egypt.
Mohammad al-Zawahiri, the brother of al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was released Thursday from Egyptian prison after more than ten years of incarceration. Extradited from the Yemen in 1999, he had been held on charges of conspiring against the government in relation to the assassination of former Egypt's former President Anwar Sadat.
His release comes as the Interior Ministry continues to evacuate "political detainees" by direct order from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Just days ago the cartaker-government released Tareq and Abbud al-Zomor, members of Egypt's al-Jihad Islamic sect who were also held in relation to Sadat's killing in 1981. They were let go as part of a 69-prisoner release being billed as a concession to rights activist. According to Interior Ministry statements, they, along with al-Zawahiri, will be subject to five years surveillance. Read more from Al Arabiya.
In related news, a UN report Thursday indicates the astonishing release of 950 former militants from the Gama'a al-Islamiyya terrorist group. While the Egyptian Interior Ministry has refused official comment on their cases, Montasser al-Zayyat, head of the Lawyers' Syndicate Liberties Committee representing the freed militants said they have been gradually released over the past 11 days. To find out more read this IRIN News release.
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