Abdullah, the elder son of imprisoned cleric Omar Abdel Rahman, has claimed that US prison authorities have been mistreating his father. He has called on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to press for his release.
Abdel Rahman, a leading figure of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya, has been jailed in the US for nearly two decades for his "involvement" in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing. He is also said to have planned the 2001 attacks on the twin towers and the Pentagon’s headquarters from inside prison.
The family of Abdel Rahman has been calling for his release more intensely over the past couple of months. They have repeatedly protested at the US embassy headquarters, having held a sit-in since August.
It is now expected that they will intensify their demonstrations as Abdullah says the blind cleric is receiving inhuman treatment in the US prison facility.
Abdullah said his father told him over the phone that he was denied breakfast and morning medicine for no apparent reason, before he was obliged to do the laundry, according to El-Shark El-Awsat newspaper.
Abdel Rahman, 73, lost his sight 10 months after his birth and now is using a wheelchair to move around. He used to send his clothes to the prison laundry.
Abdullah said that Abdel Rahman’s family will maintain the sit-in in front of the US embassy in Cairo until his father is freed. He also said they are waiting to see whether or not the ruling military council will step in to bring Abdel Rahman back to Egypt.
Abdel Rahman, who has a master’s degree, has been serving a life sentence. He was previously sentenced to prison in Egypt in the 1970s. He used to work in the Ministry of Endowments.
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