Dr Ahmed Atef, leader of the Coalition of Egyptian Doctors and a leading figure in September’s two week doctors’ strike for a minimum wage at government hospitals, has been missing since Tuesday, according to his colleagues.

Dr Atef was last seen at the Nile Health Insurance Hospital before going to buy food at a nearby restaurant on Tuesday afternoon.

Friends of Dr Atef mentioned that he had been receiving threats on his mobile phone for several days before he went missing.

Potential presidential candidate and chairman of the Arab Doctors’ Union Abdel Manam Abu El-Fatouh, used Twitter to call on Minister of Interior Mansour Eissawy to do more to discover the whereabouts of Dr Atef.