A Cairo court has released two Al Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed after more than 400 days in jail, but did not dismiss the case against them.

Judge Hassan Farid said the next hearing would be on 23 February.

Mr Fahmy was released on 250,000 Egyptian pound (€28,906) bail, while Mr Mohamed was released with no bail.

Mr Mohamed announced his release via Twitter.

The men, along with Australian Peter Greste, had been sentenced to up to ten years in prison but an appeals court ordered a retrial saying the prosecution had failed to prove its case.

They had been charged with aiding the banned Muslim Brotherhood in their coverage and spreading false news about the government's deadly crackdown on the Islamists.

Mr Greste was deported from Egypt earlier this month and tweeted his delight at the news of the release of his colleagues.

The courtroom erupted in applause after the judge read his decision, delivered after a brief recess.
              
Mr Fahmy's fiancee, Marwa Omara, weeping and hugging journalists in the courtroom, said: "Thank you Egypt for doing the right thing ... I am happy. For the last year I haven't been able to sleep."

Mr Fahmy is a naturalised Canadian citizen who has given up his Egyptian citizenship.

The case has been a major source of embarrassment for President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi as he seeks to shore up international support following a widely condemned crackdown on the opposition.

Mr Sisi passed a law by decree last year allowing foreigners to be deported to their home countries to stand trial or serve out their sentences.

Al-Jazeera said it was "a great, great day" immediately after they heard that their reporters had been freed pending a retrial.

Heather Allan, head of news gathering at Al-Jazeera English, said just minutes after the news of their release: "We are very grateful. This is a great, great day for us and we just hope that... the whole thing is thrown out."