Egypt could free Canadian-Egyptian journalist
Mohamed Fahmy within hours,Qatar-based news
channel Al Jazeera English reported on Tuesday.
Fahmy's colleague, Peter Greste, an Australian
citizen, was released on Sunday. A third
journalist, Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian national,
is still in prison in Cairo.
The thee men were sentenced last June to
between seven and 10 years on charges including
spreading lies to help "a terrorist organization" -
a reference to the now-outlawed Muslim
Brotherhood.
Al Jazeera said that Fahmy had renounced his
Egyptian citizenship, in a move that paves the
way for him to be deported under a presidential
decree.
On Monday, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird
told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that
Fahmy's release was "imminent". Baird did not
elaborate, however, as to whether he meant hours
or days.
A security source said on Sunday that Fahmy was
expected to be released and deported to Canada
within days.
Egyptian authorities accuse Qatar-based Al
Jazeera of being a mouthpiece of the Muslim
Brotherhood, the Qatari-backed movement which
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi toppled in 2013
when he was Egypt's army chief.
(Reuters US)
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