CAIRO: Seven Saudis in Egyptian jails have been released at the request of the Saudi ambassador in Cairo.
"As per the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to guarantee the welfare of all Saudi citizens in Egypt, I wrote to the minister of interior and minister of justice in that country to release Saudi prisoners in Egyptian jails. The ministers agreed to release seven prisoners," Ahmed Kattan said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency on Thursday. He added that steps were being taken to get the release of the remaining two inmates.
The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) recently called for efforts to repatriate Saudis who are in prisons abroad to complete their jail terms in the Kingdom. The NSHR said existing agreements relating to this must be activated and new ones should be concluded with other countries.
"We were able to bring a number of Saudi prisoners who were serving long-term jail sentences in Egypt and there are still others waiting for procedures to be completed by the Saudi Embassy in Cairo," Mufleh Al-Qahtani, chairman of the NSHR, was quoted saying in the middle of March.
He added that the NSHR was following up on matters concerning Saudi prisoners in countries such as Iraq, Syria and the United States, and asked Saudi embassies in these countries to follow up on Saudi prisoners and coordinate with concerned bodies.
It was also reported last month that Saudi prisoners at the Al-Qanatir Prison in Egypt went on a hunger strike to protest ill treatment and deteriorating conditions in the jail.
The reports said some of the Saudi prisoners, particularly those who have spent long periods in Egyptian prisons, have asked the embassy to negotiate with the Egyptian officials the possibility of being transferred to the Kingdom.
© Arab News 2011
