LATEST: Israel — “Global Jihadists”, Not Hezbollah, Fired Rockets From Southern Lebanon
A judge opened the prison doors for former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday, ruling that there were no legal charges which required his continued detention.
Mubarak can be held for up to 48 hours pending a possible appeal. However, because prosecutors said later that they would not act, the former President — overthrown in the January-February uprising — could be freed on Thursday.
State TV reported last night that Mubarak, who still faces charges of involvement in the killing of protesters in the 2011 revolution, would be placed under house arrest. He is likely to return to his villa in the resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison in June 2012 for his role in the deaths of demonstrators, but a retrial was ordered earlier this year.
Latest Updates, From Top to Bottom
Israel: “Global Jihadists”, Not Hezbollah, Fired Rockets From Southern Lebanon
The Israeli military has said that “global jihadists”, rather than the Lebanese organization Hezbollah, were behind today’s launch of four rockets from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.
The statement is an expression of concern by Israeli forces that an extremist group was able to carry out the attack.
Egypt: Former President Mubarak Freed From Prison
Egypt’s Interior Ministry has confirmed that former President Mubarak has been flown away from the Tora Prison complex where he has spent the past two years.
The helicopter has flown to Maadi military hospital.
PHOTO: Mubarak is escorted into an ambulance after he being flown to a military hospital from Torah prison in Cairo pic.twitter.com/0wmzlxnZBn
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) August 22, 2013
Four Rockets Fired from Southern Lebanon Land in Northern Israel
Four rockets launched from southern Lebanon have been fired at northern Israel.
Ynet reports that air raid sirens sounded in the Western Galilee region at 16:30 local time and in Nahariyya and Akko fifteen minutes later. Explosions were heard in the area. Ynet points out that during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Nahariyya and Akko did not hear air raid sirens. Ynet also reports that a local resident said that the air raid sirens sounded only after residents heard two explosions.
The Israel Police issued a warning to citizens to stay away from open fields.
The IDF later said that at least three of the rockets had “failed to hit the ground“, with the Iron Dome system intercepting one of them. It said there were no casualties or damage.
Egypt: Draft Constitution to Be Announced This Week
The amended draft of Egypt’s 2012 constitution will be announced Thursday or Saturday, according to Ali Awad, the head of a 10-member technical committee overseeing the amendments.
The draft will be discussed by a 50-member committee before it is released to the public.
Awad said recommendations include the abolition of the upper house of Parliament, the Shura Council and the elimination of a clause referring to the “interpretation of Islamic Sharia [law]”.
The official also said the technical committee was “firm” in banning “the formation of religious parties”, ensuring political factions are “not mixing religion with politics or being formed under religious foundations.”
The presentation of Awad’s remarks in State-run Ahram Online then emphasizes the danger of religious parties — notably the “Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party” — with the “necessity to make sure that Egypt turns into a fully civilian and democratic state”.
Since the July 3 coup and the detention of many leaders of the Brotherhood, speculation has centered upon a possible renewal of the ban on the Brotherhood, which was outlawed in 1954.
