CAIRO: An Egyptian man has accused officials inside the American Embassy in Cairo of attacking and beating him when he attempted to obtain information concerning his American wife earlier this month. Ahmed Mohamed al-Takruri, 32, filed a complaint at Cairo's Qasr al-Nil police station, where he claimed to have been “lured inside the Embassy” before being attacked by three Americans “carrying weapons,” a local newspaper reported on Tuesday. The mortgage marketing company owner told police he was beaten “severely, causing several injuries” before he was taken to a local hospital where his injuries were allegedly addressed Al-Takruri said in his statement that he is married to an American woman called “Linda” and that she had disappeared from their home accompanied by their daughter on August 5, after he refused to give permission for them to travel to the United States. He added that he had been “searching for them in vain” and that after a few days discovered her mobile phone, which had the Embassy phone numbers recently dialed. Upon learning this information, al-Takruri went to the Embassy, where he claims he was met with force. “I contacted the embassy and requested a meeting with Consul,” he said in comments reported by Youm al-Saba'a newspaper. “I went at the time given and entered the Embassy, accompanied by my mother and I was surprised by three Americans with pistols, [who] started to assault me; kicking me to the ground in front of my mother, who was also assaulted when she objected this treatment. “Those three told me that I mistreated and tortured my wife, then they threw me outside the Embassy onto the street,” he claims. In Egypt, the husband can deny their wife permission to travel abroad alone, which appears to have been the case. It must be noted that the American Embassy in Cairo, when called for information, said they had not heard of this case and would investigate the situation. Al-Takruri said that he filed a complaint to the country's Attorney General, Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, on Monday against the American Consul and sent a message to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, demanding that the three men responsible for his beating be brought in so he could identify them. He also demanded that they be brought to trial for their alleged actions. In his statement, he claimed that his wife and daughter had not traveled and are currently in Egypt. He also asked the Attorney General to put their names on the travel ban list so they could not leave the country. According to the man, his wife had converted to Islam before the two were wed. No further details are currently available as of Thursday morning. **reporting by Mohamed Abdel Salam BM
