Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
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April 21, 2007

Egypt Convicts Egyptian-Canadian Man of Spying For Israel
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1728025:A6F02AD83191E160AEC00DB59EA10D069574F7DCC14957C0 Mohammed al-Attar
sentenced to 15 years in prison



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Mohammed al-Attar flashes a victory sign as he is led into the
Egyptian State Security Emergency Court in the New Cairo suburb of
Cairo, 21 Apr 2007An Egyptian man with dual Canadian citizenship has
been convicted in a Cairo courtroom of spying for Israel.

Mohammed al-Attar was sentenced to 15 years in prison Saturday.

Three Israelis were also given 15-year sentences in absentia for
allegedly recruiting the Egyptian.

Throughout the trial, Attar maintained his innocence, and said
Egyptian interrogators had forced a false confession using torture.

Egyptian prosecutors accused Attar of working for Israeli intelligence
after leaving Egypt for Turkey several years ago. They said he spied
on Arabs living in Turkey, and later in Canada.

Attar was arrested January 1 as he entered Egypt for a family visit.

Media reports in Egypt have described Attar as a convert to
Christianity, which he has denied.



In the confession attributed to him, Attar said he had used his
position at a Toronto bank to track financial transactions within
Canada's Arab community, and that he had recruited 20 Arab Canadians
to work for Israeli intelligence.

International rights groups say Egypt uses torture during
interrogations.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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