(
)
WASHINGTON — Former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak could be sprung from prison this week, further fueling the political turmoil that has left hundreds of Egyptians dead in the past week alone.
Mubarak, who has been jailed for two years since he was forced out of office in the Arab Spring uprising, is expected to be released within days, his lawyer, Fareed el-Deeb, said yesterday.
“All we have left is a simple administrative procedure that should take no more than 48 hours,” el-Deeb said. “He should be freed by the end of the week.”
Egyptian authorities, who would not confirm Mubarak’s planned release, said the former strongman would remain in jail at least another week or two while the court dealt with remaining minor legal issues.
Mubarak, 85, is unlikely to attempt a political comeback.
His release from jail, however, threatens to add to the chaos gripping the country by stoking protests by ousted President Mohammed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood supporters.
Mubarak, who appeared in a courtroom cage at his trial, was convicted of complicity in the murder of about 900 demonstrators during Arab Spring demonstrations.
He was sentenced to life in prison, but Egypt’s highest court threw out the conviction in January.
He also faced corruption charges. But a criminal court yesterday ruled in his favor in that case, opening a path to freedom for the former autocrat.
His release could come just weeks after the military he led for 30 years deposed his democratically elected successor, Morsi, who is under house arrest.
In Washington, President Obama is feeling the pressure from a growing chorus of lawmakers calling for end to $1.3 billion in annual military aid to Egypt.
The Obama administration is evaluating the aid package on an “ongoing basis,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at the daily press briefing.
The administration has been reviewing the aid to Egypt since the June 3 military takeover, but the review is being “influenced by the day-to-day decisions being made by the leaders in Egypt,” said Earnest.
Obama interrupted his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard last week to give a speech in which he condemned the violence in Egypt. But he stopped short of threatening to cut off aid.
European Union leaders are moving more aggressively in deciding whether to pull aid to Egypt, which totals about $6.7 billion in grants and loans this year.
The possibility of canceling all EU aid was on the table and a decision could come as soon as tomorrow, officials said.
“The calls for democracy and fundamental freedoms from the Egyptian population cannot be disregarded, much less washed away in blood,” European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said in a joint statement before the meeting of senior EU official in Brussels, Belgium.
The European action and American condemnation outraged Cairo, which said it would now “review” its strategic relationships with Western countries.