CAIRO: Tragedy has overtaken the family of Ibrahim El-Sayed Mohamed Al-Sadiq who went missing inside Saudi territory a year ago leaving behind a little girl named Shahd who never stopped asking about her father.
The details of the tragedy are recounted by Ibrahim’s father who gave up hope that he would find his missing son and says he has received no support from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
The father told us that he had been living with his family in Saudi Arabia where he had worked in the marketing of agricultural products for more than 20 years until he decided to return to Egypt.
“After we decided to come back my son Ibrahim preferred to stay on to finish his studies as he was in his pre-graduation year in the Faculty of Arabic Language in the Islamic University. Therefore, I left him and I was constantly in touch with him during the exams. He was about to finish his educational life and return to Egypt but his fate was sealed, and his wife and child have never seen him again, said the father.
He says that after his return to Egypt, he lost contact with Ibrahim, and despite calling Saudi Arabia on several occasions and enlisting the help of several friends there, he was unable to obtain any response from his son.
On approaching the Egyptian Foreign Ministry for assistance, he was turned away, and so decided to return to Saudi to conduct a search in person.
Soon after arriving, he was told by Ibrahim’s friends that he had been arrested and detained in the Medina Investigation Prison without charge.
“Having learned about his whereabouts, he continues, “I hastened to see him, but the officials warned me not to ask about my son. I did not give up hope, and contacted all the people I knew during my work in order to discover the reason for the disappearance of Ibrahim, but to no avail.
“After a long search I went back to Cairo, as I had undergone several surgical procedures. I then headed once again to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, which confirmed that it had instructed the Egyptian Embassy there to search for my son.
The father says that he sent a message to the Emir of Jeddah, demanding to know the reason for Ibrahim’s arrest, and was told that the charge was his sympathy with the Iraqi people. If there are genuine charges to be leveled against Ibrahim, then he should be given the chance of a fair trial, says the father.
For her part, Ibrahim’s wife is also deeply upset. “I want to see my husband in any way as my daughter is screaming on a daily basis, she says. “We are suffering from his continued absence. We have searched for him during the last period to no avail.
