Al-Jazeera journalists freed after Egypt pardon

Two Al-Jazeera journalists pardoned by Egypt's president were released on Wednesday and told AFP they were looking forward to being reunited with their families.

"I'm feeling ecstatic knowing that I don't have to worry about lawyers, police officers following me all over the place and knowing that I'm going to share my apartment tonight with my beloved wife," Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy said after he and colleague Baher Mohamed were released.

The two were dropped off by authorities in the upmarket Cairo suburb of Maadi, not far from their former prison.

"We're very, very happy. But we're a bit surprised about how it was done," Mohamed said, as the two men stood in their blue prison uniforms waiting for family members.