BRITAIN has sent the “completely wrong message” by selling more than £200 million of arms licences to Egypt while British-Egyptian political prisoner Alaa Abd El Fattah remains jailed, campaigners said today.
Campaign Against The Arms Trade (CAAT) revealed the lucrative sales as the dual national’s widowed mother Laila Soueif and relatives met with Foreign Secretary David Lammy on the 60th day of her hunger strike.
They included the largest ever single arms licence on record from Britain to Egypt, worth nearly £80m, for military radars in December 2023.
Mr Fattah, an outspoken pro-democracy activist, was arrested in September 2019 after sharing a Facebook post about torture in Egypt.
Ms Soueif, 68, a London-based maths professor, began her protest after her son was arbitrarily detained in September following the end of his five-year sentence.
He was convicted for spreading false news in 2021 and has been in jail for most of the past decade.
Mr Lammy stressed Egypt’s proximity with the war in Gaza on Tuesday as MPs said Britain should end its economic and financial partnership with Egypt pending Mr Fattah’s release.
Left MP John McDonnell urged Mr Lammy to “make absolutely clear that our economic relationship will suffer unless this British citizen is released.
“The reality is this family have suffered enough and [Egyptian] President Sissi will any move if there’s an economic threat,” he said.
CAAT’s research suggests Britain has licenced at least £237 million worth of arms to Egypt during Mr Fattah’s detention.
This does not include 34 unlimited-value arms licences sold under the opaque Open Licence system during the same period.
CAAT advocacy manager Katie Fallon said: “Our government continues to arm Egypt despite the regime’s widespread use of torture, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention.
“We call on the UK to immediately halt the issuing of arms licences to Egypt until Alaa is released and leverage any partnership with Egypt for systemic reform of human rights in the country.”
Mr Lammy said: “Today I met with Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s family. They have campaigned tirelessly for his release.
“I’m focused on securing consular access, and his release as quickly as possible.
“The UK will continue to raise this with the highest levels of the Egyptian government.”
Yesterday Mr McDonnell told the Morning Star: “The signing of deals with the oppressive Sissi regime flies in the face of these commitments and sends the completely wrong message if we are to succeed in securing Alaa’s freedom.”
Egypt does not recognise Mr Fattah’s dual nationality.
