Hosni Mubarak, Former President Of Egypt, Acquitted Of Corruption Charges, Could Leave Jail Within Hours

Lawyers for former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told CBS News on Monday that he had been acquitted of corruption charges, and would walk free from jail within 48 hours.

The original corruption charges were based on allegations that Mubarak and his sons embezzled money to fund presidential palaces.

It's unclear whether or not Mubarak will actually be set free without further hurdles, however. He still faces charges that he was complicit in killing hundreds of protesters, by ordering his security forces to do so, during the months of protests that led to his fall from power.

He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on those charges in June 2012, but that case has gone to retrial. Judicial officials, though, told the AP that Mubarak can't be held in custody on those charges any further because of a two-year limit for such custody.

But a judicial source told Reuters that Mubarak would be in jail for at least another two weeks before there could be a final decision about any potential release.

Mubarak, who is 85, was also being treated in a military hospital for a time. He was ousted in February 2011, after a 30-year rule, and is now being held at Tora prison on the outskirts of Cairo.

In January 2013, the retrial over corruption charges was announced. A spokesman for the political party of Mubarak's successor, former President Mohammed Morsi, predicted then that Mubarak could face the death sentence or life in prison, with fresh evidence found against his sons and associates.

Morsi's government sought earlier this year to recover illicit assets from Mubarak and his former officials, targeting money which they'd allegedly embezzled.

It has been about two years since the first trials against Mubarak, from August 2011, began.

In Egypt in the past week, almost 1,000 people have been killed and many more wounded, as supporters of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi face off against state security forces. Dozens of Coptic churches have also been destroyed by Islamist protesters backing Morsi.