Egypt frees ex-Reuters man Peter Greste

There was no official word on the fate of his two Al Jazeera colleagues - Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian national Baher Mohamed - who were also jailed in the case that provoked an international outcry.

The three were sentenced to seven to 10 years on charges including spreading lies to help a terrorist organisation - a reference to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. One month ago, however, a court ordered their retrial.

The timing of Greste's release came as a surprise, just days after Egypt suffered one of the bloodiest militant attacks in years. More than 30 members of the security forces were killed on Thursday night in Sinai.

The Interior Ministry said on its Facebook page that Greste was released under a decree issued in November authorising the president to approve the deportation of foreign prisoners.

Al Jazeera said its campaign to free its journalists from Egypt would not end until all three were released. ■