CAIRO: Known for its “systematic” torture and poor prison conditions, Egyptian officials have yet to talk about the death of the brother of leading Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri in an Egyptian prison on Monday. By Tuesday, Yussif Hamdan's death reverberated across the Arab world after the 38-year-old was reported dead and the Gaza-based Islamist party accusing Cairo of having a hand in his death. The death is worrying a number of analysts and observers, who question if a Palestinian reconciliation deal, expected to be signed between Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement later this month, will continue. “I doubt this will really affect much, as both sides see the need for the agreement, but it comes at a bad time when Palestinians need to come together. Egypt will likely be seen as threat to Hamas,” said an Arab League official who has been in constant contact with both Palestinian parties over the past few months as Egypt attempts to broker a deal. Deposed Hamas deputy foreign minister Ahmed Youssef told Bikya Masr from Gaza that this is “frustrating” but the reality is “we have to move forward with the issues that affect the entire Palestinian people, no matter how angry and how negligent Egypt has been.” The Palestinian News Agency said that Abu Zuhri reported that his brother died as a result of the “brutal torture” he suffered during his detention in prison. “Yussif Abu Zuhri, 38, brother of Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, was martyred in an Egyptian prison cell as a result of torture,” said another Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, in a statement from the Palestinian party. Abu Zuhri told the Palestinian news agency that his brother suffered a severe hemorrhage as a result of being subjected to torture in one of the Egyptian Prisons during the past two weeks, adding that the Egyptian Prison Authority “refused to transfer his brother to a hospital and was only forced to take him to the hospital after his health condition deteriorated.” Zuhri continued that his brother was taken from al-Arish prison some 30 minutes from Gaza to the Alexandria University Hospital and that the medical staff carried out a number of medical tests, then refused to keep him in hospital, although the man's bleeding had not ceased. The 38-year-old was returned to his prison cell until his death was announced on Monday. Egyptian media were quick to respond to the news, reporting fervently on the situation on Tuesday morning, but by the afternoon, the government had intervened and pulled the story from government-run publications and television reports. The blogosphere was up in arms, with debate and confusion surrounding what would happen next. “Is this another attempt by Egypt to derail peace and why do they continue to torture people. It is a horrible country,” one activist said. Hamdan was arrested on April 28 this year after allegedly entering Egypt via one of the smuggling tunnels beneath the Sinai border that connects Egypt and Gaza. Then, the country's government-controlled media stated that investigators had interrogated the 38-year-old for connections with Lebanon's Hezbollah party, which was already under investigation for allegedly planning to carry out a series of attacks against tourist sites across Egypt. Hamas officials have denied that the man was involved in any possible acts of violence in Egypt and have demanded a full investigation into the death of the man. Egyptian independent newspaper al-Youm al-Saba'a reported on Tuesday afternoon that Abu Zuhri died as a result of chronic illness at the Burg al-Arab prison in Alexandria and the a medical report after his death confirmed that the death was “natural and there is no suspicion of torture.” According to Hamas, Hamdan was interrogated for several days in al-Arish, then transferred to Cairo and then to the Alexandria prison. The Egyptian newspaper reported that Hamas leaders had been pressuring Egyptian officials to release the man and according to the newspapers contacts, Egypt had promised to release him along with a prisoner exchange deal in the works with Israel over captured soldier Gilad Shalit. International and local human rights groups have long detailed the poor prison conditions in Egypt, arguing that police and security forces often employ torture “to get confessions.” There has been no confirmation of torture in this case, but Hamas officials remain adamant that Abu Zuhri was tortured and this resulted in his death. BM
