CAIRO - An Egyptian dissident, who has been in a volintary exile in the US for three years, was set to return to Cairo last night for a two-week visit, his brother said on Wednesday. "Saad Eddin Ibrahim's plane arriving from New York via London, is set to land at Cairo Airport on Wednesday at 10:00 CLT (7:00GMT). Accompanied by his wife, he will stay here for two weeks to make family visits," said Ahmed Rizq Ibrahim, his brother. Rizq, however, said there were some fears that Ibrahim could be arrested upon his arrival for the verdicts issued against him in absentia. "Sure, he could be arrested upon arrival. We have no coordination with security or political authorities in Egypt," said Rizq, who now manages the Cairo-based Ibn Khaldoun Centre for Development Studies. Ibrahim, who is also a US citizen, had been tried in absentia 14 times within the past three years. He was been found innocent in some of cases. However, there are still some pending legal reports against him for tarnishing Egypt's image abroad. Ibrahim is the founder of both the Ibn Khaldoun Centre and the Arab Organization for Human Rights. In 2000, more than eight months after he was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of illegally accepting foreign funds, sullying Egypt's image abroad, and embezzlement, the Egyptian human-rights activist appealed the rulings and was released.
