Report: Egypt releases 2 Palestinian detainees

Sunday 01/05/2011

CAIRO (Ma'an) -- Egyptian authorities have released two Palestinian members of a Hezbollah-affiliated cell, Arabic media reported Sunday.

The men were detained during the rule of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite channel reported.

Muhammad Ramadan, 17, was detained in Egypt three years ago and sentenced to six months, but he was not released after completing the sentence, the report said.

Nidal Fathi Juda, 23, had been sentenced to three years imprisonment.

They were released following a week-long hunger strike, after which they met with the chief of the Egyptian prison service, Ramadan told Al-Arabiya.

The men sent a request to Egypt's Higher Military Council through the prison chief, and the request was referred to the Attorney General who agreed to release them, Ramadan said on arrival in the Gaza Strip.

"After a decision was made to release us, we were held temporarily at Al-Qanatir prison for two months waiting for the situation in northern Sinai to settle down.

"Three days ago, we were moved to the Rafah crossing and were asked to choose whether we prefer to go to Gaza or to Malaysia to avoid Israeli threats. We decided to go to Gaza so we can die in our homeland," Ramadan told Al-Arabiya.

The teenager said he had been blindfolded and tortured for six months by Egyptian state security in the city of Nasr prior to his trial.

He added that four other Palestinians remained in Egyptian custody serving sentences ranging from 10 to 15 years.

Ramadan identified them as Nassar Jibreel, Adel Abu Amra, Nassar Abu Amra and Nimir Taweel, and said Egyptian lawyers were trying to secure their release.

Other members of the Hezbollah cell managed to escape during the unrest in Egypt which led to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, including a well-known leader Sami Shihab and other Egyptians within the group.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=383609.