Two foreigners and their Egyptian interpreter, who were arrested and detained on Saturday on charges of inciting strikes, will be released and will not be deported, said lawyer Sayed Fathy.

Derek Ludovici, an American citizen, and Austin Mackell, an Australian journalist, will be released along with their Egyptian interpreter Alia Elwy, according to Fathy, who has been following the case. Mackell, who was going to be deported because of his expired visa, will remain in Egypt.

Both Ludovici and Mackell were arrested on Saturday in the city of Mahalla Al-Kubra in Egypt's Nile Delta. They were detained, accused of bribing workers to participate in a general strike.

Elwy, who was acting as an interpreter, was detained along with union activist Kamal El-Fayoumi who was being interviewed by the pair of foreigners.

While El-Fayoumi was released shortly after being detained, Elwy remained in detention for no apparent reason. Fathy explained that although there was an order for the release of Elwy, she was kept in detention under the pretext that permission was needed from National Security to release her, although for an Egyptian, no such permission is needed.

Fathy said that the police reversed their decision to deport Mackell and to keep the three in custody following the intervention of the US consulate. According to Fathy, the decision to release them came after the US consulate visited Mahalla police station.  

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