OTTAWA: Canada s Foreign Minister said Wednesday that he had received assurances from Cairo that an Egyptian-Canadian man accused of spying for Israel had not been tortured after being arrested by Egyptian authorities. McKay said Canadian consular officials have had access to Mohammed Essam Ghoneim Al-Attar, who was accused by Egypt of spying for Israel s Mossad intelligence organization. You always have concerns of allegations of torture, particularly involving Canadian citizens. So what we have attempted to do is get assurances, as we do in all cases, all consular cases when we have Canadians in custody that they re being treated in compliance with international standards and we ve sought that assurance.
Pressed by reporters as to whether he had assurances from Cairo that Al-Attar had not been tortured, Mackay replied: Yes, we have.
We have had consular access with him. In fact we had two diplomats in the courtroom at his last appearance. We re following that case closely. We ve had some communications directly with the Egyptians and the matter is before the courts and his position has yet to be decided. I m going to leave it at that. Earlier Wednesday Al-Attar, 31, said ahead of a court hearing in Cairo that he only confessed to being a spy after being tortured. I call on the Canadian government to give me a lawyer and to prove my innocence – my confession was under torture, Al-Attar told reporters clustered around his cage before proceedings began. I have never been to Israel. I have never been and will never be a traitor to my country, he said, dressed in the customary white detention uniform.
Al-Attar was arrested in Cairo on Jan. 1 on charges of bribery, espionage and conspiring to harm Egypt s national interests.
Three Israelis are being tried in the same case in absentia. A former student at Cairo s Al-Azhar University, Al-Attar is accused of spying for Israel s Mossad intelligence service and has been described in the press as a homosexual and a convert to Christianity. He has denied both allegations.
