Ex-Gitmo prisoner arrested in Egypt

CAIRO, June 14 (UPI) -- Police arrested Adel Fotouh Ali al-Gazzar, who returned to Egypt after spending a decade in the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, officials said.

Gazzar was sentenced in absentia in 2001 by an Egyptian State Security Court to three years in prison for participating in an attempt to overthrow former President Hosni Mubarak's regime and infiltrate Palestinian territory, al-Masry al-Youm reported Monday.

The case garnered criticism as an effort by Mubarak to suppress his opponents, the newspaper reported. More than half of the suspects eventually were released.

Ahmed Ghappour, Gazzar's U.S. attorney, called for the charges against his client be dropped.

"I think primarily they should be dismissed on humanitarian grounds because of what he suffered," Ghappour told al-Masry al-Youm in a telephone interview.

Gazzar was detained by U.S. forces while working for the Red Crescent in Afghanistan. While in a U.S. prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan, he was beaten, deprived of sleep and subjected to other forms of torture, a prisoner rights advocacy group alleged.

Lack of proper medical treatment led to the amputation of a leg injured in a U.S. bombing raid, al-Masry al Youm reported.

Cleared of terrorism-related charges, Gazzar was released from the Guantanamo Bay to Slovakia, records indicated. He was not returned to Egypt for fear he would be tortured under the Mubarak government.

Ghappour said he was concerned Gazzar could face the same fate even though Mubarak's regime was swept from power by an 18-day uprising.

"The Egyptians have a track record of abuse ... one that we've seen continued in the post-Mubarak era," the lawyer said.