Egypt Releases Two Sadat Murder Convicts

Egypt's new military rulers have ordered the release of two Islamist prisoners jailed over the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat, state TV reported on Friday.

Cousins Tareq and Abbud al-Zomor, members of Egypt's Islamic Jihad, were convicted in 1981 for their involvement in Sadat's murder but were never released after their sentences expired.

Former interior minister Habib al-Adly had used discretionary powers granted by the emergency law to overrule several judicial release orders.

The two were among 69 political prisoners freed on the orders of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took power in Egypt after veteran president Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down by a popular uprising.

The military rulers said those released will be subject to surveillance for five years.

Tareq al-Zomor was ordered released in 2003, having served out his sentence for the killing of Sadat, who was gunned down at a military parade in October 1981.

Abbud, at the time a senior military intelligence officer, was also due to be released but was kept in jail.

Islamic fundamentalists had condemned Sadat for being the first Arab leader to sign a peace deal with Israel in 1979.