CAIRO: Supporters of Mohamed Radwan, an Egyptian-American engineer detained in Syria earlier this week, held a silent protest Wednesday in front of the Syrian Embassy in Cairo, demanding his release.
Syrian state television aired a video of Radwan “confessing” that he was communicating with a journalist from Columbia to send him photos and videos from Syria, which the country’s authorities considered to be an indication that he is spying on behalf of foreign entities.
Family and friends joined the protest, handing out flowers to passersby and emphasizing that this is a demonstration to call for Radwan’s release and not one of a political nature.
Syria’s ambassador addressed protesters, claiming that Radwan freely and openly confessed that he is a spy for Israel, adding that he did not speak to Syrian TV under duress.
He added that the situation in Syria is very critical, confirming that foreign hands are behind the destabilization of the country.
The ambassador told Radwan’s distraught mother that if her son is proven innocent, he will personally visit her and apologize.
"My son is not a spy, the fact that he was using his camera phone to shoot footage of protests in Damascus cannot be evidence of spying," said Maha El-Samadouny, Radwan’s mother.
"Look at people passing by our protest, everyone is using mobile cameras, can we accuse all of them of spying?"
El-Samadouny distributed flowers to protesters, who held banners with Radwan’s picture labeled “Free Radwan” and “Bring Radwan Home,” as passersby joined the protest.
Syrian TV said that Radwan secretly visited Israel, an allegation that was completely denied by his family.
"Radwan is not officially charged until now," said Tarek Shalaby, Radwan’s cousin.
"There are seven administrations under the umbrella of the Syrian intelligence unit, so we do not know which one of them is interrogating him."
Shalaby confirmed that Radwan’s father has met with Egypt’s ambassador to Syria and is in contact with the Syrian authorities, but still has no news.
President Bashar Al-Assad addressed Syrian Parliament on Wednesday for the first time since the unprecedented wave of protests across the country broke out; stressing that Syria is subject to a foreign conspiracy to destabilize the country.
"Syria today is being subjected to a big conspiracy, whose threads extend from countries near and far," Assad said, without naming any countries.
El-Samadouny said, "We do not want to turn to political demands, all we are calling for is to free my innocent son. Egypt and Syria have enjoyed a great shared history, why ruin everything now?" –Additional reporting by Reuters.
