| Mursi frees Islamists jailed by Mubarak |
CAIRO Egypt’s President Mohamed Mursi has freed a group of Islamists jailed for militancy during Hosni Mubarak’s era, a step seen as a gesture to hardliners who supported his presidential bid.
A lawyer for 17 Islamists, many of them held since the 1990s, say they owe their release to a pardon issued by Mursi. At least three of the released Islamists had been condemned to death, said the lawyer Ibrahim Ali.
Those released in recent days include members of Al Gama’a Al Islamiya, jailed during the group’s armed insurrection against the state in the 1990s, and Islamic Jihad, the movement behind the 1981 assassination of president Anwar Sadat.
Separately, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta reaffirmed US support for Egypt’s democratic transition and stability during a lightning visit to Cairo.
Panetta met Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, as well as President Mursi.
“My message today was consistent with our previous conversations — the US strongly supports an orderly, peaceful and legitimate transition to a democratic system of government here in Egypt,” Panetta told reporters.
Reuters
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