CAIRO - Blogger and activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah was detained for a further 15 days on Sunday, despite calls from local activists and international groups for his release, the official Middle East News Agency reported. According to initial reports, Abdel-Fattah has had one charge ‘stealing weapons' erased from his list of accusations by the military prosecutor. The blogger refused last month to co-operate with a military investigation, saying it had no ‘legitimacy' to try civilians. He was then sentenced to 15 days in State custody pending further investigations. Abdel-Fattah is accused of allegedly inciting violence during the October 9 military attack on a Coptic Christian protest that left at least 27 dead and around 300 wounded in central Cairo. He is also charged with trying to attack the soldiers guarding the State Television building. He was arrested in 2006 when he was involved in a protest movement that for a few months galvanised the country. His arrest and detention has gone international, with activists worldwide holding vigils and demanding that Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) release the embattled activist. Abdel-Fattah's mother, Laila Sueif, has gone on hunger strike in solidarity with her jailed son. According to activists present on Sunday, hoping that Abdel-Fattah would be released, the blogger chanted from the vehicle he was being held in, “Down with the SCAF,” as he was leaving from and returning to his cell.
