Egypt frees Jazeera journo after 4 years jail: security

Egypt has released Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein after more than four years in detention on accusations of publishing false news, a security source said yesterday. Hussein, an Egyptian national held under preventive detention since December 2016, was released from jail Thursday night, the source said, without giving further details. Hussein's reported release from jail comes weeks after Egypt said it had agreed to restore ties with Qatar, shortly after the end of a three-year Saudi-led freeze on relations with Doha. Gulf powerhouse Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, cut ties and transport links with Qatar in June 2017, alleging it backed radical Islamist groups and was too close to Riyadh's rival Iran -- claims Doha denied.  

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