The family of Alaa Abd el-Fattah have expressed cautious optimism that progress is being made to secure the British-Egyptian dissident’s release from jail in Cairo after Keir Starmer managed to secure a long-delayed phone call with the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, in which the two leaders discussed improving UK-Egypt trade relations.
The call coincided with a decision by Abd el-Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif, to ease her hunger strike in the hope diplomacy may work. She is on a glucose drip in St Thomas’ hospital in London. The 69-year-old’s decision came after discussions with doctors and her family. She has been on hunger strike for more than 270 days to secure improvement in Abd el-Fattah’s jail conditions or his release.
The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, told MPs this week he was confident that the UK strategy to secure Abd el-Fattah’s release was working, but did not give any further details to explain that view.
In a readout of the Starmer phone call with Sisi, Downing Street said: “Turning to the bilateral relationship between the UK and Egypt, the leaders underscored the potential to go further and faster on trade and investment to benefit both countries. The prime minister also raised the case of British national Alaa Abd el-Fattah and again pressed for his release so that he can be reunited with his family.”
The fact that the British readout seemed to link improved trade ties to Abd el-Fattah’s release hinted at an effort to persuade Sisi that it would be in Egypt’s economic interest to permit the release of the British-Egyptian dual national.
It is the third phone call the UK prime minister has made to the Egyptian president in which he has raised the award-winning writer’s imprisonment.
In the Egyptian version of the call, “the two leaders emphasised the two countries’ keenness on enhancing their bilateral relations across various fields, particularly in the economic and investment spheres”.
Starmer said he looked forward to Sisi’s acceptance of the invitation, extended from the king, to visit London. For his part, Sisi confirmed the invitation extended to the British prime minister to visit Egypt later this year.
The two leaders also discussed a Gaza ceasefire. No mention of Abd el-Fattah was made in the Egyptian statement.
Some MPs have been calling for the Foreign Office to change its travel advice in a bid to threaten the Egyptian economy with the loss of UK tourist income, but there has been tension inside the Foreign Office over whether threats or incentives will persuade Egypt’s authoritarian leader that continued detention is damaging the Egyptian national interest.
Soueif, a university professor and long-term campaigner for human rights in Egypt, has been in and out of hospital since she started her hunger strike, but her health has become critical over the past three weeks as her blood glucose levels dropped.
Her daughter Sanaa Seif, posting on Facebook on Wednesday, said her mother might be facing long-term mobility issues, and had fallen twice the day before. Seif wrote: “She was not sure she knows how to stand on her legs again and at her age it is hard to build muscle … The signs of course were very scary and mama was forced to use the wheelchair again.”
Soueif has again agreed to a small glucose intake to improve her blood sugar levels. She continues to take no food.
The Labour MP Stella Creasy asked Lammy on Tuesday to give an assurance all options were being considered, including changing the travel advice to Egypt.
The foreign secretary replied: “This case and Laila’s condition has concerned me greatly. It has been a top priority every week I have been in office: at every single level – prime minister, foreign secretary, foreign minister and national security adviser – we are engaged with the Egyptians. I believe our strategy is working, but given Laila’s health we must see progress at pace with the Egyptians.”
Abd el-Fattah was arrested in September 2019, after he had already served five years for the so-called Shura council protest in November 2013 when dozens of activists were detained for demonstrating against military trials. In December 2021, after more than two years in detention, he was sentenced again – this time to five more years, accused of spreading false news for reposting a tweet about a detainee who died as a result of his torture in prison.
