Germany 'frees' Jazeera journo

German authorities yesterday ordered the release of Al-Jazeera journalist Ahmed Mansour, two days after detaining him at the request of his native Egypt in a move that sparked outrage from rights groups.

"We welcome this decision by the German prosecutor," said Al-Jazeera spokesman Hareth Adlouni, adding that all charges had been dropped against 52-year-old Mansour, one of the best known TV journalists in the Arabic world.

Berlin prosecutors in a short statement said they would not seek his extradition and had ordered Mansour's release, citing both "legal aspects and possible political-diplomatic concerns", without detailing them.

Mansour, an Egyptian-British dual national, was controversially arrested Saturday at a Berlin airport, where he had been due to fly to Doha. He had been sentenced last year by an Egyptian court in absentia to 15 years in prison on torture and other charges which he has rejected as "absurd".

Supporters and journalists massed outside the Berlin prison where the journalist was being held. They waved banners that said "Freedom for Mansour", with some demonstrators taping their mouths shut to symbolise what they charge is Egypt's crackdown on free expression.