UK – The Telegraph, June 11, 2025
Sisters of activist imprisoned in Egypt warn mother’s condition is also deteriorating after months of hunger strike
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of playing “Russian roulette” with the lives of a British citizen illegally detained in Egypt and his mother.
Laila Soueif, 69, began refusing food in September after her son, Alaa Abd El-Fattah, remained imprisoned in Cairo despite completing a jail sentence. Doctors now warn she is on the brink of death.
“It feels like the Government is playing Russian roulette with my mother and brother’s life,” said his sister Mona, speaking to The Telegraph from a café opposite St Thomas’ Hospital in Westminster, where Ms Soueif is being treated.
Her sister Sanaa, speaking from Cairo, said both the Prime Minister and Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Egypt’s president, would have “blood on their hands” if her mother died before her brother was freed. “We’re not even asking Egypt for a favour, he’s a British citizen. Does his passport mean nothing?” she added.
