KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait has released one of two Egyptian men who claimed they were tortured by Kuwaiti police, Egypt s consul general said Thursday. Ahmed Abdel Lah did not provide the name of the former prisoner who was freed on bail Wednesday, but Egypt s official Middle East News Agency identified him as 27-year-old Hossam Saleem. Mena said Saleem and his fellow countryman, 35-year-old Gamal Abdel Shafi, attended Abdel Lah s press conference and denied they had forged work permits to remain in Kuwait, as alleged by the government. Abdel Lah said Egypt would seek damages for the two men from the Kuwaiti officer who allegedly tortured them, not from the country s Interior Ministry. The Kuwaiti officer s deeds are considered an individual act that is absolutely rejected, said Abdel Lah. The case of the two men, who were first arrested July 24, has drawn media attention and official condemnation from Egypt. They were briefly released last Aug. 23, but re-arrested a day later. Their lawyer, Tariq Al-Khars, has alleged authorities used acid to burn the men during their interrogation. Four policemen from the immigration service were briefly detained and questioned in the case but were released pending a forensic report on the Egyptians. Abdel Lah said Thursday that the two men will be examined by a doctor to inspect their injuries. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry summoned the Kuwaiti charge d affaires in Cairo last week to protest the abuse of the men and urge an investigation into the affair and punishment for those involved. Mena said Thursday that Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit contacted Kuwait s Deputy Foreign Minister Sheik Mohammed Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah earlier this week to follow up on the case and assure him that Cairo viewed it as an isolated incident that would not harm bilateral relations.
