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| Egypt releases jailed Al Jazeera journalist |
Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste was released from a Cairo jail on Sunday and left Egypt for his native Australia after 400 days in prison on charges that included aiding a terrorist group.
The three were sentenced to seven to 10 years on charges including spreading lies to help a terrorist organisation - a reference to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. One month ago, however, a court ordered their retrial.
There was no official word on the fate of his two Al Jazeera colleagues - Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian national Baher Mohamed - who were also jailed in the case that provoked an international outcry.
Al Jazeera said its campaign to free its journalists from Egypt would not end until all three were released.
"We’re pleased for Peter and his family that they are to be reunited. It has been an incredible and unjustifiable ordeal for them, and they have coped with incredible dignity," it said. "We will not rest until Baher and Mohamed also regain their freedom."
Many Egyptians see Qatar-based Al Jazeera as a force set on destabilising the country, a view that has been encouraged in the local media which has labelled the journalists "The Marriott Cell", because they worked from a hotel of the US-based chain.
The case has contributed to tensions between Egypt and Qatar, though speculation had been rising that Saudi mediation had improved ties, raising the possibility that Sisi would deport or pardon the journalists.
They were detained in December 2013 and charged with helping "a terrorist group" by broadcasting lies that harmed national security.
"This is what we expected would happen," his brother Assem told Reuters. "Those who rule the country, this is not the first time they've done this, there have been foreigners who they have let leave the country when they were in trouble and their Egyptian colleagues are the ones who paid the price."
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