CAIRO, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Egyptian and other Arab intellectuals pleaded Thursday for the immediate release of jailed Egyptian human rights activist Saad al-Din Ibrahim, warning that his detention harmed Egypt's quest for greater civil liberties.
A petition signed by 100 writers, academics and politicians called on President Hosni Mubarak to reverse a state security court sentence last month that sent Ibrahim to prison for seven years on charges of harming Egypt's reputation abroad and improperly accepting foreign funds.
The statement also called for the release of 20 of his colleagues, sentenced to various prison terms, and for the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies in Cairo, run by Ibrahim, to be reopened.
Among the prominent figures who signed the statement were Syrian poet Adonis, former Lebanese Prime Minister Selim Hoss, Egyptian university professor and writer Nasir Hamid Abu Zaid and thinker Sadik Jalal Adam as well as senior writers and journalists from Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world.
The intellectuals said their plea aimed at safeguarding Egypt's efforts to introduce greater civil liberties that had begun to appear with greater freedom for writers and publishers.
Civil society in Egypt was stunned by the sentence on such a respected and prominent figure as Ibrahim, the statement said.
The petition urged Mubarak to use the special powers granted to him under the Constitution to grant amnesty to Ibrahim, who holds dual Egyptian and U.S. citizenship.
The signatories also expressed concern over the health of the 63-year-old Ibrahim and prison conditions affecting his health.
"We make our plea out of concern for Egypt's reputation in the world and because Egypt was the target of harsh criticism by international media and human rights organizations following the sentence on Ibrahim," the statement said.
The United States suspended additional financial assistance to Egypt last month to protest Ibrahim's conviction and imprisonment.
