Egyptian-American Mohamed Radwan lauded the efforts made by Egypt’s foreign ministry for his release after being detained by Syrian authorities. The 32 year old engineer was caught up in pro and anti-government clashes on 25 March at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.

Radwan was released ‎on 1 April and a couple of days later he met Egypt’s Foreign Minister Nabil El-‎Arabi along with other senior ministry officials.‎

Afterwards, Radwan heaped praise on El-Arabi and ambassador Mohamed Abdul-Hakem, ‎among others, for their role in his release.‎

He also expressed gratitude to the Syrian authorities for treating him with respect during ‎his detention, however, Radwan vehemently denies ever having visited Israel, as alleged.‎

The Syrian press insinuated Radwan was a spy, especially when the Syrian Arab ‎News Agency (SANA) published an article that stated that he “visited Israel in secret and confessed to receiving ‎money from abroad in exchange for sending photos and videos of Syria.” ‎

Despite these unfounded rumours, no official charges were made against Radwan.