Mubarak's sons freed from prison in Egypt

CAIRO - The two sons of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak were released from prison Monday, nearly four years after they were first arrested along with their father, authorities said.

Security officials said the pair, wealthy businessman Alaa and Mubarak's onetime heir apparent Gamal, walked free from Torah Prison in a southern Cairo suburb shortly after daybreak and headed to their respective homes in the capital's upscale Heliopolis suburb.

Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, who is in charge of police and prisons, confirmed the release of the two, but would not say when they walked free. There has been intense speculation among activists in Cairo that they may actually have been secretly freed over the weekend.

The two, along with their father, still face a retrial on corruption charges, for which a date has yet to be set. Separately, the two sons also face trial on insider trading charges. Hearings resume in March. They had been acquitted of other charges.

Mubarak, 86 and ailing, stepped down in February 2011 in the face of a popular uprising. He and his two sons were arrested in April that year. Mubarak remains at a military hospital in a southern Cairo suburb although there are no longer any legal grounds for his detention.

The security officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren't authorized to speak to journalists.

The release of the two had been expected since a Cairo court ordered their release on bail Thursday.

The Mubarak sons were sentenced to four years in prison on charges of using state funds to renovate family residences. Their father got three years in the case. The sentences were overturned earlier this month.

Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for failing to prevent the killing of about 900 protesters during the 18-day uprising against his rule. That verdict also was overturned on appeal. He was retried but the case was dismissed last month on a technicality.

Mubarak's sons walked free a day after deadly clashes between antigovernment protesters and police marked the fourth anniversary of the uprising that ended their father's 29-year rule. That violence Sunday left at least 23 people dead, including three men authorities said died planting bombs and three police officers, and wounded 97, the Health Ministry reported.

The shooting deaths of two female protesters over the weekend have stoked renewed anger over the police's use of excessive force. The death of one of the two, 32-year-old Shaimaa el-Sabagh, was captured on several videos that, activists and witnesses claim, point to the police as the perpetrators.