25 cops killed in ambush

Islamic militants ambushed two mini-buses carrying off-duty policemen in the northern region of Egypt's Sinai peninsula yesterday, killing 25 of them in a brazen daylight attack.
The killings, which took place near the border town of Rafah, came a day after 36 detainees were killed in clashes with security forces. In all, nearly 1,000 people have died since last Wednesday in clashes between security forces and supporters of the ousted president, Mohammed Morsi.
Also yesterday, Hosni Mubarak's lawyer said the former Egyptian president, overthrown in 2011, will be released from jail in the next 48 hours.
Fareed el-Deeb was speaking after judicial authorities ordered Mubarak's release in one of the remaining corruption cases against him.
The only legal grounds for Mubarak's continued detention rest on another corruption case that will be cleared up later this week, Deeb said.
"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," Deeb said.
Mubarak, 85, still faces retrial on charges of complicity in the murder of protesters during the 2011 revolt.
SINAI AMBUSH
Sinai, a strategic region bordering the Gaza Strip and Israel, has witnessed almost daily attacks since the ousting of Morsi, leading many to link the militants there to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which Morsi hails.
Egyptian military and security forces have been engaged in a long-running battle against militants in the northern half of the peninsula.
Al-Qaeda-linked fighters, some of whom consider Morsi's Brotherhood to be too moderate, and tribesmen have used the area for smuggling and other criminal activity for years, and have on occasion fired rockets into Israel and staged cross-border attacks.
Yesterday, the militants forced the two vehicles to stop, ordered the policemen out and forced them to lie on the ground before shooting them.
The policemen were in civilian clothes, officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.