Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak could be released from jail into house arrest as early as today.
Prime minister Hazem el-Beblawi yesterday made the order hours after a court ordered his release after two years in detention.
The move could further tensions in Egypt, currently under a state of emergency amid violence on the streets that has accompanied the interim government’s crackdown on Islamists opposed to the ousting of Mr Mubarak’s successor, President Mohammed Morsi, on 3 July.
Hundreds of members of Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement have been detained, including its most senior leader Mohammed Badie.
The prime minister’s office said: “In the context of the emergency law, the deputy military commander issued an order that Hosni Mubarak should be put under house arrest.”
Analysts say Mr Mubarak’s release would be seen by many as a symbolic sign that last month’s military coup was a step toward restoring the old regime.
Mr Mubarak, 85, was jailed on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during the uprising that ousted him in 2011.
He was sentenced to life in jail last year, but a retrial was later ordered after his appeal was upheld. He still faces the charges in the retrial, which opened in May, but Mr Mubarak has now served the maximum amount of pre-trial detention permitted in the case.
He also faces investigation into at least two other corruption cases.
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