September 30, 2003	Tuesday	Sha’aban 3, 1424

CAIRO, Sept 29: Egyptian authorities have freed a repentant leader of Muslim militants who murdered president Anwar Sadat 22 years ago, in a move aimed at showing their grip on security, analysts said on Monday.

Karam Zohdi, 51, a leader of the Jamaa Islamiya group, was freed at the weekend because, law enforcement sources said, he had not only served his sentence, but was also suffering from heart problems and had repented.

He was one of about 1,000 members of the radical Jamaa Islamiya group who promised to give up their militant activities released by Egyptian authorities over the weekend.

“Almost 1,000 Jamaa Islamiya members who have made a commitment to renounce violence and extremist ideas have been freed,” they said.

The Jamaa members were released over the weekend with the approach of the Egyptian national holiday on October 6 marking the anniversary of the 1973 war against Israel.

The authorities said Zohdi, the highest Jamaa member to be freed from prison, has since returned to his family in the southern city of Minya.

In a July prison interview with Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Zohdi voiced “deep sorrow” for Sadat’s murder and called him a “martyr,”.—AFP