Mubarak to be freed tomorrow as EU stops short of complete freeze on £4billion aid for fear of hurting ordinary Egyptians Court in Cairo ruled ex-president will be released from jail Release of disgraced former leader could cause 'public outrage' EU foreign ministers suspend exports of weapons and other goods Almost 1,000 killed after supporters of ousted Morsi forcibly dispersed U.S. cancelled planned joint military exercises with Egypt in response Saudi Arabia has pledged to plug any gap left by withdrawn western aid Egypt's disgraced ex-president Hosni Mubarak could be freed as early as tomorrow following a court ruling that jolted a nation already in turmoil today. Convening today at the Cairo jail where Mubarak is held, the court ordered the release of the military man who ruled Egypt for 30 years until he was overthrown during the uprisings that swept the Arab world in early 2011. News of the ruling came as the EU decided to suspend exports of weapons and goods to Egypt, but stopped short of halting aid programmes for fear of hurting ordinary Egyptians already suffering. Decision time: A closed hearing to decide whether Egypt's jailed former president Hosni Mubarak (seen at a court appearance earlier this month) should be freed has begun outside Cairo Turmoil: A curfew imposed by the military-backed authorities remained in force in Cairo today as they continued their arrest campaign against middle and lower-ranking members of the Muslim Brotherhood Asked when his client would go free, Mubarak's lawyer, Fareed al-Deeb, replied: 'Maybe tomorrow'. Mubarak, 85, was sentenced to life in prison last year for failing to prevent the killing of demonstrators. But a court accepted his appeal earlier this year and ordered a retrial. The ailing ex-president probably has no political future, but some predicted 'public outrage' in the wake of the court ruling, which state prosecutor Ahmed el-Bahrawi said cannot be appealed. 'The army has brought back Mubarak's regime, the same regime,' said Guma Abdel Alim, outside a bicycle shop in central Cairo. Those who were elected by the people are now in prison. He was referring to a widescale security sweep on Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood that has netted many of its leaders. The 28 EU foreign ministers today called on the military authorities and the supporters of deposed President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement to resume negotiations to avoid further bloodshed. Unrest: Sit-ins staged in support of the ousted Muslim Brotherhood are being forcibly dispersed by military-backed authorities in Egypt Anger: Supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi, seen with posters that read 'yes to legitimacy, no to the coup' in Arabic, are seen marching in Cairo on Monday 'It was decided ... to suspend all arms deliveries that can be used internally,' said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius following the emergency meeting in Brussels. 'We have decided to maintain our aid for the Egyptian population because it already suffers enormously,' he added. Clashes between Egyptian security forces and Morsi's supporters have killed hundreds of people since last week. 'We do believe that the recent operations of the security forces have been disproportionate and we're worried about the resulting alarming number of people that have been killed,' said the EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. Political turbulence has kept Egypt on edge for months. At least 900 people, including 100 soldiers and police, have been killed in a crackdown on Morsi supporters in the past week, making it the country's bloodiest internal episode in decades. The United States and the European Union have both been reviewing aid to Cairo in light of the bloodshed, but Saudi Arabia, a foe of the Brotherhood, has promised to make up any shortfall. There was no immediate reaction to the ruling on Mubarak from the Brotherhood, whose leaders are mostly behind bars. Mubarak is still being retried on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during the revolt against him, but he has already served the maximum pre-trial detention in that case. The court ruling removed the last legal ground for his imprisonment in connection with a corruption case, following a similar decision in another corruption case on Monday. Mubarak will not be allowed to leave Egypt and his assets remain frozen. Mubarak's two sons, Gamal and Alaa, along with former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, are still in prison, and Adly's lawyer said the ruling on Mubarak had no bearing on their cases. Some of the liberal and secular politicians who backed the army's ousting of Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, on July 3, said they regretted the hated Mubarak's release, but argued that the judiciary's decision should be respected. Response: Obama interrupted his vacation to announce that a planned joint military exercise with Egypt would not go ahead in light of the escalating crisis 'His regime was lousy and he destroyed the country,' said Mohamed Abolghar, head of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, to which the army-appointed interim prime minister belongs. Noting Mubarak's age and the jail time he has served, he said: 'We should focus on building the country, establishing democracy and finishing the problem of the Muslim Brotherhood. The government knows that if Mubarak is freed there will be public outrage, but a court decision is a court decision. Khaled Dawoud, spokesman of the liberal Dostour Party, said the trials of the ex-president and his associates had all been flawed because the judiciary was ill-equipped to deal with cases related to Mubarak's rule, resulting in a series of acquittals. 'It was a faulty process from the beginning,' he said. The relatively muted response from Mubarak's non-Islamist opponents may reflect a reluctance to rock the boat following the army's removal of Morsi, which they had endorsed. The generals say they were responding to the will of the people after vast demonstrations organised by liberals and leftists demanding Morsi's ousting. They have installed an interim administration to oversee a roadmap back to democracy. Hundreds of people - including 70 policemen and soldiers - have been killed in Egypt since the military-backed government forcibly dispersed sit-ins supporting the ousted Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo a week ago. The resulting massacre saw President Barack Obama interrupt his holiday in Martha's Vineyard to declare that his government would not hold a planned joint military exercise with Egyptian forces next month. But Obama remained silent on the question of whether the billions of dollars in foreign aid sent to Egypt from the U.S. each year will continue in spite of the ongoing bloodshed. The EU and its member states last year pledged a combined 5 billion euros ($6.7 billion) in loans and aid for Egypt. Diplomats from several EU countries cautioned that a decision to halt all aid programs was unlikely since many are directed at helping the poor or propping up civil society groups - not directly supporting the government. Moreover, EU threats to cut some aid may not frighten Egypt's leadership since Saudi Arabia - a long-time critic of the Muslim Brotherhood - has pledged to plug any shortfall. Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Gulf nations, including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, have so far promised $12 billion in new aid. A suspension of EU arms shipments seemed more likely. 'I would assume that no one would export arms in this situation,' Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on his way into the meeting. The Islamists arrested in Egypt today include a preacher known for his fiery sermons at Muslim Brotherhood gatherings, who was reportedly caught as he tried to flee to neighbouring Libya in disguise, and a spokesman for the movement said to have been en route to catch a flight out of the country. Crackdown: Egyptian authorities have already detained Mohammed Badie, the Muslim Brotherhood's supreme leader and spiritual guide Tensions: Egyptian soldiers stood guard at a military checkpoint during a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Cairo yesterday Strife: Egyptian soldiers stand guard beside a tank at a military checkpoint in Cairo, as the crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood figures continues They are the latest allies of President Mohammed Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood, to be arrested. Yesterday authorities detained the Brotherhood's supreme leader and spiritual guide, Mohammed Badie, dealing a serious blow to an embattled movement now struggling to keep up its protest campaign against the military's overthrow of Morsi and subsequent deadly assaults on pro-Morsi sit-ins. A court ruling earlier in the week raised the possibility that Mubarak could walk free, a move that would fuel the unrest roiling the country after the autocratic leader's successor was removed in a military coup. Mubarak, in detention since April 2011, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison last year for failing to stop the killing of some 900 protesters in Egypt's 2011 uprising. He is facing a number of other corruption charges.