Jailed Egypt dissident ends hunger strike

THE family of a prominent jailed Egyptian pro-democracy campaigner said on Tuesday he had broken his hunger strike and is preparing to celebrate his 41st birthday later in the week.

Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a key figure in Egypt’s 2011 anti-government uprising, began a partial hunger strike in April, but then stopped drinking water to coincide with the start of a global climate conference in Egypt, according to his family.

Egyptian authorities said the activist, who is also a British citizen, is in good health and cast doubt about the credibility of his protest action.

The news of Abel-Fattah ending the strike came in a letter dated November 14 that he sent to his mother from his prison outside Cairo, his sister Sanaa said on Twitter.

“The important thing is I want to celebrate my birthday with you on Thursday. I haven’t celebrated for a long time, and want to celebrate with my cellmates, so bring a cake... I’ve broken my strike,” read a copy of a handwritten letter attributed to Abdel-Fattah that Sanaa posted.

Abdel-Fattah was sentenced in December to five years in prison on charges of spreading fake news, an accusation his family dismisses as politically motivated.

Western leaders have called on Egypt to release him.

Egypt’s rights record under incumbent President AbdelFattah al-Sissi has drawn international criticism amid a crackdown on dissidents.

Al-Sissi took over in 2014 a year after the army, then led by him, deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi following mass protests against Morsi’s divisive rule.