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CAIRO (Islam Online & AFP) July 1 - Egyptian state security forces apprehended an Egyptian-American professor of sociology on charges of "cooperation with and receiving foreign funds from foreign countries." Saa'd El Din Ibraheem, Professor of Political Sociology at the American University in Cairo and Director of the Ibn Khaldoun Center for Developmental Studies, was arrested early Saturday morning. Security forces picked him up from his home in Maadi district south of Cairo. Ibraheem, a US passport holder who was born in Egypt and also holds Egyptian nationality, faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of charges of having "obtained funds to draft reports on the internal situations in Egypt and several other Arab countries, including Morocco and Tunisia, that were to be sent abroad," the state security prosecution said. The Ibn Khaldoun center was established in 1985. Its activities revolve mainly around tracing democratic developments in various Arab countries, including Egypt. It issues an annual report on the status of democracy within Arab countries. The Ibn Khaldun Center also issues reports and studies on ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle East. These reports are often subject to harsh critiques from nationalists and Islamists in Egypt. Critiques claim the reports encourage separation of Copts from Egypt. Dr. Ibraheem, however, has never specifically called for this cause. Ibraheem has also offered opinions that socio-economic factors may explain Islamic activism in Egypt. Two of Ibraheem's colleagues at the Ibn Khaldoun Center, financial director Nadia Abdel Nur and employee Osama Hamed, were also arrested for questioning Ibraheem's arrest, but prosecutors have not yet indicated whether charges would be brought against them. Prosecutors are accusing Ibraheem of having "exploited the Ibn Khaldoun Center to get into contact with a great number of countries and to ferment internal problems that could threaten Egypt's stability." The professor also "tried to tarnish Egypt's reputation, both at home and abroad, and to make a film deriding the government," the prosecutors said. Ibraheem allegedly obtained "several million Egyptian pounds from foreign parties on the pretext of conducting research work in various fields." In 1993, Ibraheem desired to organize a conference in Cairo to discuss matters related to minorities in the Middle East. However, due to strong official and non-governmental opposition within Egypt, the conference was held in Cyprus. Ibraheem was recently criticized in the opposition newspaper Al-Wafd for a report he wrote on Egypt's Coptic Christian minority. The newspaper did not explain what Ibraheem, a Muslim, said. |
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