EGYPT'S OUSTED LEADER MUBARAK RELEASED
APUpdated August 23, 2013, 8:53 am
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Egypt's ousted leader Hosni Mubarak has been released from prison and taken to a Cairo military hospital, where he will be held under house arrest.
The release on Thursday followed a court decision ordering the release in relation to charges of receiving gifts from a state-owned newspaper.
There are fears the move could spark further violence in Egypt as Islamist groups called for protests on Friday.
Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi ordered that Mubarak be put under house arrest after a wave of violence sparked by the ouster of Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi, who succeeded Mubarak as Egypt's first freely elected president.
Despite his release, the 85-year-old still faces retrial on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters in the 2011 uprising against him, which could put him back behind bars.
State TV said a medically equipped helicopter transported Mubarak to the military hospital in the southern Maadi suburb.
Footage showed the helicopter arriving at the pad outside the military hospital, on the banks of the Nile, from where Mubarak was immediately transported to a heavily guarded ambulance.
Mubarak was held for several weeks of his two-year detention in the same hospital as he underwent medical check-ups.
Since his ouster, Mubarak's supporters have released conflicting details about his health, including that he suffered a stroke, a heart attack and at times went into a coma.
His critics called these an attempt to gain public sympathy and court leniency.
His wife, Suzanne, has been living in Cairo and keeping a low-profile, occasionally visiting Mubarak and their two sons in prison.
The prospect of Mubarak being freed, even if only temporarily, is expected to feed into the larger crisis bedeviling Egypt - the violent fallout from the July 3 coup that unseated Morsi.
Several secular and Islamist groups have called for protests in Egypt on Friday against Mubarak's release, which comes as the new military-backed government continues a crackdown on Morsi's supporters.
Morsi has been kept in army custody at an undisclosed location since his overthrow on July 3.
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