Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Egyptian Fundamentalist Fears Deportation | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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London, Asharq Al-Awsat- an Islamic fundamentalist residing in West London spoke, on Sunday, of his fears at being forcibly returned to Egypt along with two other associates in a secret agreement between Cairo and London.

Dr. Hani al Sibai, the Director of al Maqrizi Center in Hammersmith in London, told Asharq al Awsat he had credible information the British ambassador to Egypt had held discussions with the National Council for Human Rights in Cairo to try and reach an agreement to extradite him and other Islamists currently residing in Britain, including a high-ranking official in the banned Gamaa Islamiya.

He indicated the British government had repeatedly tried between 1998 and 1999 to strike a deal that would see him handed over to Egypt, the details of which have appeared in British newspapers.

Al Sibai was convicted in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor in “the returnees from Albania” case as one of the leading suspects. He had come to London with his family in 1994 and sought asylum. In 1998, the Egyptian Islamist was detained

during Operation Challenge involving the Metropolitan police anti terrorist branch, Special Branch and MI5 targeting the leadership of “Islamic Jihad”, in the wake of US embassy bombings in Africa.