Mother of jailed UK-Egyptian vows to maintain hunger strike

The mother of a British-Egyptian activist blogger imprisoned in Egypt told UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Wednesday she will keep up a two-month-old hunger strike until he is released.

Laila Soueif, 68, who has not eaten for 59 days, met Britain's new top diplomat for the first time to press her case for the UK government to do more to secure the release of her son, Alaa Abdel Fattah.

The pro-democracy and rights campaigner was arrested by Egyptian authorities in September 2019 and handed a five-year sentence for "spreading false news" in a Facebook post on torture in Egypt's prisons.

His family and press advocates, including Reporters Without Borders, argue he should have been freed this year after completing his sentence when time spent in pre-trial detention is accounted for.

They have long campaigned on his case, insisting it was "bogus" and that he did not receive a fair trial.

"I'm still on hunger strike, and I'm remaining on hunger strike," Soueif, flanked by her two daughters, told reporters after the trio met Lammy earlier Wednesday.

"It's possible to get this done and to get this done quickly. That's what I'm betting on. I'm betting on it with my health and my life."

Fattah, 43, was a key figure in the 2011 revolt that toppled Egyptian autocrat Hosni Mubarak and was given British citizenship in 2022 through his British-born mother.

She went on hunger strike -- subsisting on just water, tea and coffee and rehydration sachets three times a day -- in late September, and told AFP last week that she saw no other way forward.

On Wednesday Soueif said she had emphasised in the meeting with Lammy that it would be "very, very embarrassing for both the British and Egyptian governments" if she began collapsing.

"He's serious," she said of Lammy, who became foreign secretary in July. "I think he's gotten the message that this issue cannot be kicked into the long grass, at least as long as I hold out."

Lammy faced sustained questioning Tuesday from fellow MPs about the government's approach to Fattah's case, amid claims it is prioritising trade and diplomatic ties.

He vowed to "continue to lobby on his behalf" while noting the importance of London's relationship with Cairo in light of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and, in particular, neighbouring Gaza.

Lammy said Prime Minister Keir Starmer raised the case with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in August, while he spoke about it with his Egyptian counterpart earlier this week.