Former Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for thirty years before being ousted in February 2011, could be released from prison this week, according to his lawyer and judicial sources, USA Today reported.
This surprise announcement comes after a long week of violence throughout the country, which culminated with an ambush on 25 policemen in the north Sinai desert on Monday, news reports said.
Mubarak could soon be released from detention within two days after being cleared of corruption charges, according to judicial officials speaking to the Association Press.
Mubarak is still being retried to the killings of protesters, which took place at the time of his ouster in early 2011.
"All we have left is a simple administrative procedure that should take no more than 48 hours," Mubarak's lawyer, Fareed El-Deeb, told Reuters. "He should be freed by the end of the week."
If Mubarak is released, it will represent a dramatic shift to when Egyptians demanded his ouster two years ago. Images of Mubarak behind bars revealed a former leader who was ailing considerably, even reports of his death having been circulated on the web.
"The Egyptian public opinion is extremely mollified and it changes its attitude at a very high speed," said political analyst Mazen Hassan in Cairo.
"We're back three years now if Mubarak released from jail," activist Amal Sharaf said, as reported by USA Today. "But the thing is that we don't have many solutions, many choices," she said. "We have to fight terrorism by any means. Now people don't think about anything except fighting terrorism in Egypt."
In an ambush on Monday, militants killed 25 policemen in the north Sinai peninsula, by first forcing the security personnel out of two mini-buses, and then having them lie on the ground. They were shot and killed at point blank, security officials told the AP.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon strongly condemned the ambush in the Sinai.
Members of Congress have been split over whether the U.S. should cut off the $1.3 billion military aid to Egypt. The crackdown by Egypt's military last week left more than 600 people dead and thousands more injured, the AP reported.
"We certainly shouldn't cut off all aid," said Peter King, House Chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. The fact is, there's no good guys there. But of the two, I think there is more opportunity to protect American interests if we work with the military and continue our relationship with the military."
