You have commented 375 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Africa North
Irish Nationals Arrested after Cairo Mosque Standoff
2013-08-18
[An Nahar] Two Irish women were placed in durance vile
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
 Saturday after being trapped with hundreds of people in a Cairo mosque surrounded by Egyptian security forces, one of them told Irish state broadcaster RTE.
Brigid and Mary Clair, perhaps, dear tourists that they are?
The pair are children of the imam of Ireland's biggest mosque in Dublin and were on holiday in the Egyptian capital with a sister and a teenage brother who were also in the mosque.
Ah. No, probably not.
The family took refuge in the Al-Fath mosque after dozens of people were killed in violent festivities between supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi and the security forces in Cairo on Friday.

Omaima Halawa, 21, and her sister Fatima, 23, were taken into custody by the Egyptian security forces when they left the mosque.

Although their mobile phones were taken from them, they managed to borrow one and called relatives in Dublin saying they had been arrested, RTE reported.

The whereabouts of their sister Somaia, 27, and brother Ibrihim, 17, are unknown.

Omaima earlier said that security forces had thrown tear gas at them inside the building.

"We are surrounded in the mosque both inside and outside," she told RTE. "The security forces broke in and threw tear gas at us."

The four had gone to Egypt with their mother for a holiday while their father, Hussein Halawa, remained in Ireland.

Another of the family's children, Nasaybi, said from their home in Dublin that her siblings were enduring a horrifying experience and she felt helpless.

She said: "We are really worried. We do not know how to help them. We are just trying to support them by calling and giving them some hope that they will get home safely."

A front man for Ireland's foreign ministry said embassy staff had contacted the four and were working with the Egyptian authorities to try to secure their safety.

Egyptian police cleared Islamist protesters from the mosque on Saturday after a standoff that included exchanges of fire, as the corpse count from four days of violence surpassed 750.
Posted by:Fred

#8  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220   2013-08-18 23:24  

#7  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2013-08-18 18:06  

#6  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: trailing wife   2013-08-18 17:16  

#5  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper   2013-08-18 16:50  

#4  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220   2013-08-18 14:49  

#3  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: Shipman   2013-08-18 11:17  

#2  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: Pappy   2013-08-18 09:01  

#1  comments); ?>werwer
Posted by: Glenmore   2013-08-18 08:55  

00:00