Egypt Court Orders Release Of Former Ruler Gen. Hosni Mubarak [REPORTS]

REUTERSFormer Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak lies on a gurney bed while leaving the courtroom at the police academy, where he is on trial, in Cairo January 2, 2012. General Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for 30 years before being toppled by popular revolution in January 2011, will be released from prison in the next 48 hours, according to reports from Reuters and The New York Times.

Judicial authorities acquitted Mubarak, 85, in one of the remaining corruption cases against him, and another corruption case is expected to be cleared up in the coming days.

"All we have left is a simple administrative procedure that should take no more than 48 hours. He should be freed by the end of the week." Mubarak's lawyer, Fareed El-Deeb, told Reuters.

Lin Noueihed of Reuters notes Mubarak still faces a retrial on charges relating to the murder of protesters during the 2011 revolution.

The military ruler and his interior minister were convicted and sentenced to life in prison last June for failing to stop killing during the 2011 uprising that ousted him. The retrial began in May after the court accepted appeals from both the prosecution and the defense.

On Saturday Mubarak missed a session of the retrial for the first time.