Thursday, Feb 13, 2014


   (FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 2/13/14) 
   By Tamer El-Ghobashy

CAIRO -- An Egyptian employee of the U.S. Embassy here has been detained by authorities for more than two weeks without charges, an embassy spokesman said on Wednesday.

The arrest has raised concern among journalists, academics and rights groups that the government's crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood has extended to those who had contact with the Islamist group even before it was outlawed and declared a terrorist organization after one of its leaders was ousted from the country's presidency last year.

The arrest was reported in Egyptian media on Tuesday. The media reports said the employee, Ahmed Aleiba, was responsible for contacts between U.S. officials and the Muslim Brotherhood when the group dominated parliamentary and presidential elections after the overthrow of longtime President Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Mofid Deak, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, said Mr. Aleiba is an Egyptian citizen who was hired locally. Mr. Deak declined to provide specifics on Mr. Aleiba's role.

"As far as we understand, he has been held without charges since [Jan. 25]," Mr. Deak said in an email. "We have been in touch with the government of Egypt and have requested additional information about his case." Mr. Deak noted that Mr. Aleiba wasn't on duty at the time of his arrest.

According to the reports, Mr. Aleiba was arrested during street demonstrations against the military ouster of Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president and a onetime senior leader of the Brotherhood. Mr. Morsi was removed from office July 3. He, along with the organization's leadership and many of its members, have been arrested and indicted on a host of criminal charges.

According to Egypt's Interior Ministry, more than 1,000 people were arrested on Jan. 25 during street demonstrations marking the third anniversary of the uprising that lead to Mr. Mubarak stepping down.

A spokesman for the ministry said on Wednesday that he couldn't immediately confirm the reports of Mr. Aleiba's detention.

Mr. Aleiba's name surfaced in a July 7 news report in Al Watan, a newspaper widely seen as aligned with Egypt's military, detailing his alleged communications with leaders of the Brotherhood on behalf of the embassy. Egyptian state and private media have frequently insinuated that the U.S. government has backed the Muslim Brotherhood against the military, prompting suspicions about American meddling in Egyptian politics and national security.

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Leila Elmergawi contributed to this article.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

13-02-14 0506GMT