Egypt's president orders release of 572 detainees

CAIRO - Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi ordered Thursday to release 572 people detained by the military in last year's protests, official MENA news agency reported.

Mahmoud Fawzi, member of the committee formed to review all cases of the detainees by military courts since the unrest, said that President Morsi also reduced the sentence of 16 others from life sentence to seven years in jail.

Fawzi added that the cases of remaining detainees are being investigated and will be included in the coming decrees.

In a televised speech delivered on Thursday, President Morsi also greeted the Egyptian people and Arab and Islamic countries on the advent of the holy month of Ramadan which begins on Friday.

He called on all the Egyptian people to work together so as to restore economy and security, "to provide the world with a new shape of our country."

Morsi, from the Freedom and Justice Party of Muslim Brotherhood, was sworn in as Egyptian president on June 30 before the Supreme Constitutional Court. He has ordered the formation of a committee to review cases of civilians tried by the military.