Islamic Groups lawyer Mamdouh Ismail, representing Hazem Mustafa Ibrahim, the Egyptian who holds a British citizenship and who is known as Hazem Dawoud, said Dawoud's detention and his alleged involvement in the bombings of Al-Azhar is illegal. He added that the security authorities have not yet formally charged Dawoud, although 4 months have passed since his arrest. Ismail told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the British Embassy was complacent and let down a British citizen, as it did not request the Egyptian government to release him. He said that accusing Dawoud of involvement in the Al-Azhar explosions is unfounded, as he arrived on March 21 in Egypt, where his family lives in Cairo, to attend the funeral of his brother, who died on March 20. He was surprised by his arrest at the airport. The Islamic Groups lawyer also said that he submitted a formal complaint to the British embassy in protest against its position regarding the detention of Dawoud, and that he sent a request to Amnesty International to discuss the matter. In a related development, the British ‘Telegraph' newspaper said that the representative of the British Foreign Ministry at the embassy in Cairo asked the Egyptian government to meet with the accused. It also said that sources at the Foreign Ministry described it as a normal thing, as there are dozens wanted in the world, with no charges formally filed against them.
The authorities had detained Hazem Dawoud at Cairo Airport on March 21 on charges of involvement with six others in the bombings of Al-Azhar, and of belonging to an Al-Qaeda cell in Egypt.
