Egypt’s former leader Hosni Mubarak, who has been held in detention since April 2011, has been released from jail and taken to a military hospital in Cairo where he will be placed under house arrest, The Associated Press reports.

A medically equipped helicopter landed outside the Tora prison in Cairo Wednesday afternoon, state TV reports, where dozens of Mubarak supporters had gathered before his release.

The release of Mubarak, who was toppled in Egypt’s popular uprising in 2011, could potentially stoke tensions in the deeply divided nation. It could also amplify the anger against the military-backed government and Islamist allegations that last month’s military coup against Mubarak’s successor, Mohammed Morsi, was a step toward restoring the old regime.

Mostafa Mohsein, one of the supporters outside the Tora prison, told the Associated Press that without Mubarak “the country is completely lost.”

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi ordered Mubarak be put under house arrest as part of the emergency measures imposed this month after Morsi’s removal from office. The decision appeared designed to ease some of the criticism over Mubarak being freed from prison and ensure that he appears in court next week for a separate trial.

(AP)