By AFP
CAIRO: Egypt’s military has detained an American national along with an Egyptian for allegedly damaging a statue of a war hero in central Cairo, the state-run MENA news service reported on Saturday.
The two were apprehended by passers-by after they used a ladder to climb up to the head of the statue of Abdel Moneim Riyad, a general who was killed by Israeli gunfire in 1969, and were handed over to police and then the military.
The suspects caused some “damage” to the bronze statue, the agency reported.
The “military prosecution on Saturday began a wide-ranging investigation into two people, one an Egyptian and the other an American citizen, who tried to destroy the martyr Abdel Moneim Riyad statue,” it added.
It said two other suspects fled the scene. The statue is on a roundabout in front of the Egyptian Museum, and close to the protest centre Tahrir Square.
The US embassy in Cairo could not immediately be reached for comment.
The military, in power since a popular revolt overthrew president Hosni Mubarak in February, has come under criticism for arresting and trying civilians.
