Egypt frees 500 militants

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By Caroline Hawley in Cairo

The Egyptian authorities have freed 500 members of militant Islamic groups who have renounced their goal of toppling the government.

Officials said those released belonged to Jamaa al-Islamiya, Islamic Jihad and another group called Taleh al-Fatah, who had been jailed for non-violent crimes or detained on suspicion of links to militant groups.

The authorities freed hundreds of people linked to such groups in March this year.

Despite these periodic prisoner releases over the past two years, human rights groups say around 15,000 suspected Islamists are still in jail, many held without charge under Egypt's emergency laws.

'Repentance'

The 500 Islamists have been allowed to return to their homes after what the authorities call "repenting".

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Most are said to be from southern Egypt, where the conflict between the government and militants during the 1990s was centred. That conflict has now subsided.

Both the main militant groups, Islamic Jihad and the Jamaa al-Islamiya, are observing a truce with the government.

But last month the truce was called into question when the spiritual leader of the Jamaa, Omar Abd Rahman, was reported to have withdrawn his support for it from his jail in the United States.

The group's leaders inside Egypt however have made clear from their prison cells that they do not support a return to violence, though they do want more prisoner releases.

Political threat

Although the government has the upper hand over the Islamists in security terms, it still clearly views them as a major political threat.

So far this year more than 250 members of the outlawed, but usually tolerated, Muslim Brotherhood have been arrested.

Human rights activists believe the government is trying to prevent them standing for elections due later this year.