Egypt’s former chief of staff ordered free

Egypt’s prosecutor general has ordered the release of the country’s former chief of staff, who was detained over accusations of inciting the detention, torture, and interrogation of protesters.

On Tuesday, the prosecutor general approved the release of Rifaa al-Tahtawi, who was arrested last month because of alleged connections to deadly clashes outside the presidential palace in Cairo in December 2012, Reuters reported.

“The prosecution investigating the case decided to release him and consider him a witness in the case. Today the general prosecutor approved the decision,” said a judicial source.

The government of army-appointed interim President Adly Mansour has launched a bloody crackdown on the supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi and arrested more than 2,000 Brotherhood members, including the party’s leader, Mohamed Badie, who was detained on August 20.

On September 1, a state prosecutor charged Morsi and 14 other members of the Muslim Brotherhood with “committing acts of violence, and inciting killing and thuggery” in clashes with anti-Morsi demonstrators in December last year.

Earlier on Tuesday, Morsi’s supporters took to the streets of Cairo to protest against the crackdown by the army that toppled the country’s first democratically elected president on July 3.

The demonstrations come as ex-dictator Hosni Mubarak is now under house arrest at a military hospital following his release from jail on August 22, whereas Morsi remains under arrest.

About 1,000 people were killed in a week of violence between Morsi supporters and security forces after police dispersed their protest camps in a deadly operation on August 14.

The massacre sparked international condemnation and prompted world bodies to call for an independent investigation into the violence.