A US embassy official says Egyptian authorities have held a local employee for nearly three weeks without charges.

Moufid Deak, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, says Ahmed Aleiba, an Egyptian citizen who works at the embassy, was arrested on 25 Jan, the anniversary of the uprising that deposed former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

A security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed Aleiba's arrest.

Al-Watan newspaper published an article in July mentioning Aleiba as an employee who arranged meetings between visiting American government officials and Muslim Brotherhood deputy head Khairat el-Shater.