The members, some of whom had been imprisoned for more than 20 years, were released in groups over the past 10 days, a ministry official said. Najeh Ibrahim, one of the heads of the organisation, was among those released, the official said. Jamaa Islamiya merged in the late 1970s with another Islamist group, Al-Jihad. They are held responsible for planning and carrying out the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981. Jamaa was also accused of being responsible for a wave of violent actions across Egypt in the 1990s.

The group has, however, claimed to have moved away from violent tactics, and published a book in 2003 explaining its ideological change.