A state security court convicted Monday an Egyptian of spying for Israel and sentenced him to 10 years in prison at hard labor.
Magdy Anwar Mohamed Tawfiq, 52, was charged in March with cooperation with a foreign intelligence service and harming the country's national security. His lawyer had said he was mentally unstable and questioned his claims of knowledge of important information about past hijackings, including the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
According to AP, Tawfiq was arrested after faxing a letter to the Israeli consular office in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria allegedly claiming to be an Egyptian diplomat and offering to cooperate with Israel's Mossad intelligence service.
He has acknowledged contacting the consulate, but denied offering to cooperate with Mossad. Tawfiq said he had contacted the office for help getting in touch with the international court that convicted a Libyan in the Pan Am bombing, which killed 270 people.
State security courts rulings are final in Egypt and can be overturned only by the president. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
