Egyptian on trial for spying for Israel says forced to confess

CAIRO - An Egyptian man charged with spying for Israel pleaded not guilty at the start of his trial yesterday and claimed he had confessed under torture, a court official said.

Mohammed el-Attar, 30 - who also holds Canadian citizenship and is a former student at the renowned Islamic Al-Azhar university in Cairo - was arrested January 1 as he returned from abroad to visit his family in Egypt.

He was charged with spying for Israel and harming Egyptian national interests. Three Israelis, who were charged alongside el-Attar, remain at large and are being tried in absentia. If convicted, el-Attar and his co-defendants face a maximum life sentence, with hard labor.

After el-Attar's appearance yesterday at the State Security Emergency court, the judge adjourned the hearings till next Wednesday. In his plea, el-Attar accused security officers of torturing him to get his confession, according to a court official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press. As he was brought to court, el-Attar, clean shaven and wearing a white prison jumpsuit, flashed a victory sign to photographers.

The judge ordered the postponement to give the defense attorney time to review the indictment sheet and evidence presented by the state prosecutor, which included a digital camera, photographs of el-Attar and other documents, the official added.

Last week, Egyptian authorities asked Interpol to arrest the three Israelis. The state-run news agency MENA identified them as Daniel Levi, Kemal Kosba and Tuncay Bubay. They are accused of collaborating, recruiting and instructing el-Attar in espionage.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev has said that Israeli authorities learned about the case from the media. "We have no knowledge whatsoever of these allegations or of the people involved," Regev said.

According to the prosecutors, el-Attar confessed to spying for Israel and gave a detailed account of his role in collecting information about Egyptians and Arabs living in Turkey and Canada in return for money. He also received instructions from the three Israelis, allegedly intelligence officers, to recruit Christian Egyptian immigrants in Canada using money and sex.

El-Attar, according to his alleged confessions published in independent and government newspapers here, fled the country in 2001 after he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment in a bank fraud case.

	Mohammed el-Attar peering out from behind a cell during start of his espionage trail in Cairo yesterday.(AP)