Jailed Al Jazeera Journalist Mohamed Fahmy Could Be Released Within Hours

Jailed Al Jazeera Journalist Could Be Free Within Hours
FILE - In this Thursday, May 5, 2014 file photo, Mohammed Fahmy, Canadian-Egyptian acting bureau chief of Al-Jazeera, appears in a defendant's cage at a courtroom in Cairo, Egypt. An Egyptian court on Monday, June 23, 2014, convicted three Al-Jazeera journalists and sentenced them to seven years in prison on terrorism-related charges after a trial dismissed by rights groups as a politically motivated sham. The verdict brought a landslide of international condemnation and calls for Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to intervene. El-Sissi, on Tuesday said he will not interfere in court rulings, sparking an international outcry. (AP Photo/Hamada Elrasam, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, May 5, 2014 file photo, Mohammed Fahmy, Canadian-Egyptian acting bureau chief of Al-Jazeera, appears in a defendant's cage at a courtroom in Cairo, Egypt. An Egyptian court on Monday, June 23, 2014, convicted three Al-Jazeera journalists and sentenced them to seven years in prison on terrorism-related charges after a trial dismissed by rights groups as a politically motivated sham. The verdict brought a landslide of international condemnation and calls for Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to intervene. El-Sissi, on Tuesday said he will not interfere in court rulings, sparking an international outcry. (AP Photo/Hamada Elrasam, File)

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DOHA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Egypt could free Canadian-Egyptian journalist Mohamed Fahmy within hours, Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera English reported on Tuesday.

Fahmy's colleague, Peter Greste, an Australian citizen, was released on Sunday. A third journalist, Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian national, is still in prison in Cairo.

The thee men were sentenced last June to between seven and 10 years on charges including spreading lies to help "a terrorist organization" - a reference to the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Jazeera said that Fahmy had renounced his Egyptian citizenship, in a move that paves the way for him to be deported under a presidential decree.

On Monday, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that Fahmy's release was "imminent." Baird did not elaborate, however, as to whether he meant hours or days.

A security source said on Sunday that Fahmy was expected to be released and deported to Canada within days.

Egyptian authorities accuse Qatar-based Al Jazeera of being a mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Qatari-backed movement which President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi toppled in 2013 when he was Egypt's army chief. (Reporting by Amena Bakr; Editing by William Maclean and Dominic Evans)

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