Allegations by the widow of Ashraf Marwan that her husband was murdered by Mossad, and the opening of the inquest into his death in London, have led to a flurry of speculation in the Egyptian press, reports Gamal Nkrumah Mona Abdel-Nasser, daughter of the late Egyptian president and widow of Ashraf Marwan, is generally shy of the press. When she does meet with journalists it is with an understanding that nothing personal, or political, be asked. But following the death of her husband, who in June 2007 fell from a fifth floor balcony in Carlton House Terrace, the family residence in Mayfair, central London, Abdel-Nasser's usual qualms have been put on hold. An inquest this week at Westminster Coroners' Court, London, will try to resolve the mystery surrounding Marwan's fatal fall. Marwan's demise, according to his widow's revelations to Britain's The Observer, was shrouded in political intrigue, espionage and betrayal. "My life is in danger. I might be killed. I have a lot of enemies," Marwan told his widow before his fatal fall. "He knew they were coming after him. He was killed by Mossad," she insists. Marwan's widow criticises shortcomings in the investigation that followed her husband's death. However, she expressed satisfaction with the verdict of Westminster Coroner's Court that disclosed that her husband did not commit suicide. She still has grave reservations about the initial investigation into her husband's fatal fall. "The investigation was extremely negligent. They did not seal the area properly. They did not take fingerprints. They lost the shoes he was wearing when he died. This was all vital information," she told The Observer. Abdel-Nasser says her husband was physically incapable of hurling himself from the balcony. He suffered from neuropathy in his feet and could not have lifted them higher than a few inches without assistance. "If he was supposed to have climbed over a metre-high balcony rail, there would have been scuff marks [on his shoes]," she explained. "I believe that the intruders took him to the bedroom, they hit him and they threw him out of the window over the balcony. Someone on a fourth floor balcony who gave evidence to the police heard him scream before he fell. Do people committing suicide scream before they fall?" Marwan's widow has suggested what she believes to be a more likely death scenario. Many Egyptian papers support her point of view, and news of the re-opening of the file of Marwan's fatal fall has hit the headlines. The independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom gave prominence to the story, spotlighting the coroner's suspicion that violence was a key aspect of the case. The autopsy confirmed that Marwan was subjected to manhandling before he fell to his death, corroborating his widow's suspicions that he was murdered. Yet the inquest determined that these suspicions were ungrounded in reality. There was not enough evidence to corroborate the case. National papers such as Al-Ahram and Al-Akhbar have published interviews with Mona Abdel-Nasser quoting her suspicions that her husband was murdered. The papers highlighted her inference of a possible Mossad role in Marwan's death. Abdel-Nasser makes no bones about her belief that Israeli intelligence was behind her "husband's murder". A considerable number of Egyptian legal experts concur with Mrs Marwan. "The court should announce the names of the witnesses and suspects to provide us with an idea of who exactly was involved," Sameh Seif El-Yazal, head of Cairo's Gomhuriya Centre for Criminal Research was quoted as saying in Al-Masry Al-Yom. "We suspected foul play from day one," he added. "We never bought the suicide story. That is why Marwan's family assigned a private investigation agency to pursue the case." "He was suspicious that he would be killed, but it was not paranoia. He would go out at night and check the locks, check the door. He was becoming more suspicious," she told The Observer. "Scotland Yard has declared that the Israelis have categorically denied any involvement in the case," reported Al-Masry Al-Yom. Yet in Egypt suspicions are widespread that Israeli intelligence perpetrated the crime. The interest of the Egyptian press in the proceedings of Westminster Coroner's Court is symptomatic of a national preoccupation with the real reasons behind Marwan's fatal fall. He was, after all, former personal assistant to the late president Anwar El-Sadat at a key period in Egypt's history. He was also an arms dealer with extensive international connections. The proceedings began on Monday and are expected to last for less than a week. Marwan's widow was expected to give evidence in court yesterday. Scotland Yard disclosed that it had made contacts with Israeli officials, though it did not specify whether they were with Israeli intelligence or the Israeli diplomatic corps. According to Israeli sources quoted in the Israeli paper Haaretz, Marwan was a double agent who received $1 million in compensation for divulging the date of the October War, a charge his family and his widow vigorously deny. At Marwan's funeral in Cairo President Hosni Mubarak said that the late businessman had "carried out patriotic acts which it is not yet time to reveal."
