Egypt prosecutors release head of Labour Party

CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) -- State security prosecutors on Saturday released the leader of Egypt's suspended opposition Labour Party who was being questioned over its links with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Ibrahim Shukri, 84, was freed after being held and questioned since last Wednesday, court sources said.

The sources originally said he had been released until next Tuesday on health grounds but said later that he would not have to return for more questioning.

The Labour Party, which has had an informal electoral pact since 1987 with the banned Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's biggest and most influential Islamist group, was suspended by a government committee in May.

The pact between the two groups had hitherto provided Egyptian Islamists with their main outlet in political life.

Egypt is currently preparing for parliamentary elections in October and November.

In a positive development on Saturday for the Labour Party, a higher administrative court turned down a government appeal against a lower court ruling that lifted a suspension on the party mouthpiece al-Shaab, court sources said.

Al-Shaab, a bi-weekly newspaper, was suspended at the same time as the party. However, an administrative court lifted the suspension on September 9.

The party appealed simultaneously against the suspension on its activities, but the court said it was not competent to rule on the issue.

The party has appealed to the higher administrative court, which will hear the case in October.

Both the party and al-Shaab were suspended after the newspaper published an article saying a book by a Syrian writer insulted Islam. The article sparked riots in which religious students clashed with police in Cairo.

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