Cairo, Sept 29: Egypt has released a leader of the militant group responsible for the assassination of former President Anwar Sadat after 22 years in jail, police officials said. Karam Zohdy, 51, one of the leaders of al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya, or Islamic group, was serving a life sentence in a tight security prison for his role in the October 6, 1981, assassination.
Interior Minister Habib el-Adly decided to release Zohdy because he served his sentence, and because he is suffering from heart problems and diabetes, Egypt's official news agency reported yesterday. According to Egyptian law, a life sentence normally means 25 years behind bars. The prison year, however, is calculated as nine months, meaning that Zohdy was more than four years overdue for a release.
It was not clear exactly when he was released. Police officials said Zohdy had already returned home. His release comes days before the 22nd anniversary of Sadat's assassination and the 30th anniversary of Egypt's last war with Israel.
Sadat had been condemned by radicals for standing in the way of establishing an Islamic state and for being the first Arab leader to sign a peace treaty with Israel, in 1979.
Zohdy is among those who ordered the assassination of Sadat, a plot that also involved the militant Islamic Jihad group. Bureau Report