Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Saudi Prisoner in Israel Requests Deportation | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat – No country is willing to receive Abdul Rahman al Atawi, a Saudi citizen currently languishing in an Israeli jail, according to Israeli sources.

An informed source in the National Human Rights Association told Asharq al Awsat Tuesday that unconfirmed Israeli reports claimed al Atawi had asked his captives to release him and deported him to Turkey, Jordan or Egypt.

Kateb al Shamri, a Saudi lawyer following al Atawi’s case, said he had contacted Bouthain Damqaq, who heads the Mandela Institute in Palestine, to confirm these reports and demanded a letter from al Atawi himself, indicating his desire to return to Saudi Arabia, in order to continue following his case.

In a previous report, the Mandela Institute revealed that al Atawi, was detained last year, close to the border with Egypt, as he attempted to illegally cross it. Soon after, he moved to Eretz, on the border with the Gaza Strip where he was sentenced by a military tribunal to 3 months in jail. Atawi was then moved to the hospital in al Ramlah prison, then Bersheva prison. In the last week of his sentence, in May 2005, he was moved back to al Ramlah jail.

In protest at his continued incarceration, al Atawi embarked on an 82-day hunger strike and lost 70kg. Earlier this year, he also went on another hunger strike.

Riyadh announced in April this year that a Saudi citizen was in an Israeli jail.