RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- An imprisoned Egyptian Islamic leader is staging a strike behind bars to protest authorities' refusal obey a court order to release him.
Saudi daily al-Watan reported Wednesday Tarek al-Zumur, a leader of the Jihad organization and the cousin of the group's chief, said he would refuse to deal with wardens or receive visitors.
Zumur has been held about two years beyond his prison sentence and a court ruling in December ordered his immediate release, but he remains jailed.
Zumur's defense lawyer, Mamdouh Ismail said he is going to sue Interior Minister Brig. Habib al-Adli for breaching the law and resisting a court ruling. Ismail also threatened to lodge a complaint against Adli with the European Tribunal for Human Rights.
Zumur was arrested in 1981 and convicted of complicity in the assassination of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and of reviving an outlawed organization. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison, which he completed at the end of 2002.
