The foreign secretary is expected to meet Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, in London after she told parliament in June that she would seek a meeting with him and raise the case of imprisoned British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah. “We are working very hard to secure his release,” he said. Abd El Fattah’s family, as well as Jessica Kelly, the British wife of human rights defender Karim Ennarah, who is still subject to a travel ban preventing him from joining her in London, said Truss and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) failed. to pressure an ally. They said the strong partnership between the two countries, including a post-Brexit trade deal, gives Britain leverage to demand more on human rights and political prisoners that Truss is neglecting to use. “We await a clear timetable for Alaa’s release, aware of the fact that he has spent years in prison and now [94th] hunger strike day. We need something immediate and urgent,” said Abd El Fattah’s sister Mona Seif, now in her fourth week of hunger strike to draw attention to her brother. Abd El Fattah, a figure in Egypt’s 2011 revolution who became a British citizen last year, has spent most of the past decade behind bars. The 40-year-old activist was sentenced last year to an additional five years for terrorism for posting on social media. His family said Truss was slow to take up Abd El Fattah’s case and that the FCDO did not overrule Egyptian officials’ refusal to grant him emergency consular access to the prison. An FCDO spokesman said: “The UK government continues to raise the case of Alaa Abd El Fattah at the highest levels of the Egyptian government. “We are working urgently to secure consular access to Mr Ab Del Fattah and urge the Egyptian authorities to ensure that his welfare needs are met.” Labor MP David Lammy, who represents Seif, wrote to Truss ahead of the meeting, calling on her to do more to press Shoukry for Abdel Fattah’s freedom, as the activist is now on hunger strike for more than 90 days. “He’s at death’s door,” he said. “This serious situation requires your urgent intervention. Time is of the essence.” Seif said: “I will be heartbroken if this turns into another diplomatic meeting like all previous communications, with no tangible promises of resolution. The other thing I’m hoping for is that Truss will finally meet with us after meeting Shukri.” Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Britain is one of Egypt’s biggest trading partners, accounting for £3.3bn in trade last year and at least £125m in military export licenses from 2019. Egypt is also due to host the Cop27 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh in November. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon met Shoukry on Monday and said afterwards that he raised Abd El Fattah’s case. Karim Ennarah and his now wife, Jessica Kelly, pictured here in 2018 after graduating from the London School of Oriental and African Studies. Photo: Leaflet/AP Kelly said Truss should raise Ennara’s case with Soukry “in the strongest possible terms” during their meeting. Ennara, a human rights defender with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, was released from prison in December 2020 after meeting a group of diplomats, including the British deputy ambassador, who had been detained a month earlier. “It is an affront to the UK’s friendly relations with Egypt,” Kelly said. Ennara is still subject to a travel ban that prevents him from joining his wife in London, where he previously studied on an FCDO-funded scholarship. “The FCDO needs to be solid and consistent, and what I’ve experienced is that they tell me Kareem is a top priority, but they don’t seem to use any of the strengths they have,” Kelly said. “Boris Johnson made this case [Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-] Sisi during a call last March, but there was no follow-up. What does it say if Boris Johnson makes a case and nothing happens? It looks like Egypt is calling the shots and circling us.”
