CAIRO: The detention of a suspect accused of the botched firebomb attack on a Downtown Cairo synagogue on Feb. 21 was extended for 15 days pending further investigations. State Security Public Prosecutor Hisham Badawi extended the detention of Gamal Hussein Ahmed, 49, who is accused of carrying out the attack which resulted in a small fire on the pavement outside the synagogue on Adly Street. The prosecution has charged Ahmed with possession of explosive substances without a permit, and using it to commit an act that disturbs the peace and threatens public security. The suspect allegedly threw a bag containing bottles of sulfuric acid from the Panorama Hotel on the fourth floor of the building opposite the synagogue. There were no injuries sustained and very little structural damage. Ahmed is alleged to have confessed to the crime according to a statement by the Ministry of Interior, and was motivated to do it "because of his feelings of rage at the events currently taking place in the occupied Palestinian territories. He was arrested less than two days after the incident in Garden City where he claimed that he was attempting to reach the US Embassy to seek political asylum, according to the Interior Ministry. The statement said that Ahmed - a tailor - had been detained many times between 1997 and 2007 for being a "threat to national security and had prior to that committed crimes in Jordan, Iraq, Turkey and Libya involving forged passports and drug use. Hailing from Boulaq Aboul-Ela, Ahmed was described in the statement as a mentally ill drug addict who has had problems with drugs for more than two decades.
