Mubarak stays in detention despite release order

CAIRO - Ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak will stay in detention despite a judge ordering his release on bail pending a retrial over charges in complicity in the murder of protesters because he still faces other charges, court officials said on Monday.

Mubarak, 84, has spent the maximum legal time of two years in detention since being charged with former interior minister Habib al-Adli for their involvement in the killing of protesters in the 2011 uprising that unseated him.

Mubarak's case is facing an indefinite delay after a retrial was aborted on Saturday when the presiding judge withdrew from the case.

Mubarak and Adli were sentenced to life terms at their first trial in June but the highest appeal court ordered a retrial after accepting appeals from the defence and prosecution.

On Monday, a judge ordered Mubarak's release on bail for charges over his complicity in killing of protesters but this decision did not cancel his detention due to ongoing separate charges, the officials said.

Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for almost 30 years before being toppled by 18 days of unrest, is also facing an investigation over financial corruption charges, Egyptian media has reported.

He has been staying in a military hospital from where he was flown by helicopter to the court on Saturday.

The prosecutor general's office on Saturday ordered an urgent medical report on the former president to determine whether he was now fit enough to be sent to prison where he had stayed before.