Egypt Releases Australian Al Jazeera Journalist Peter Greste

Reports indicate that the Egyptian government has released Peter Greste, an Australian journalist for Al Jazeera, after more than a year in prison, on Sunday, February 1st. According to Reuters, despite Greste's release, there has been no news regarding the status of two other Al Jazeera journalists, Mohamed Fahmy, a Canadian-Egyptian citizen, and Baher Mohamed. Greste, who spent 400 days in prison in Egypt, was arrested in 2013 along with Fahmy and Mohamed. The Egyptian judiciary had sentenced the three journalists to 7 to 10 years in prison. However, a court in Egypt recently ordered a review of their sentences. According to AFP and Egyptian officials, Greste's release was ordered directly by General Sisi, the President of Egypt. On Sunday, Greste left Cairo for Cyprus and then Australia with his brother. Al Jazeera welcomed Greste's release in a statement and called for the release of the other two journalists. An Egyptian security source told Reuters that Fahmy is expected to be released in the coming days. Meanwhile, the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed what it called positive developments in this regard, stating, 'We remain hopeful that the issue of Mohamed Fahmy will be resolved soon.' The new Egyptian government had previously accused Al Jazeera of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood. In this context, Saudi Arabia has called for the closure of Al Jazeera.