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Hundreds protest against President Sisi’s vis

Mahmoud Mohamed Ahmed Hussein, a 19-year-old student has been detained since his arrest in January 2014 for wearing a t-shirt with a “Nation Without Torture” logo following a protest.

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He also underlined that Egypt’s situation is different to that of Europe.

The protests were called by a number of organisations including, the Stop the War Coalition, the Egypt Solidarity Initiative and the Stop Sisi campaign.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Sisi ahead of his visit called for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation powers including Britain to help rebuild Libya, beset by violence since an uprising backed by the Western military alliance toppled leader Moamer Kadhafi.

Meanwhile, a US official briefed on the matter said intercepted communications played a role in the tentative conclusion that the Islamic State’s Sinai affiliate planted an explosive device on the plane, the AP reported.

“They reacted against the Muslim Brotherhood and are wary of them”, he said.

Marwa Maziad – specialist on Middle East politics, specialist in civil-military relations in the Middle East.

So, what will this trip mean for Egypt’s relations with the UK?

Events in the Sinai and Egypt’s concerns there have been highlighted by last week’s crash of a Russian passenger plane over the Peninsula which killed all 224 people on board, mostly Russian tourists.

In his remarks to reporters Thursday, Cameron emphasized that a final determination on the cause of the crash depends on the completion of an investigation in Egypt, the Associated Press reported. Egypt has security concerns of its own, not least among them its neighbor, Libya.

Cameron ordered an inquiry into the Muslim Brotherhood’s activities in the United Kingdom in March, after it was allegedly linked with fostering extremism and violent attacks in Egypt. The unpublished report has cleared the organisation of links with terrorism, the Financial Times reported.

We want Britons to be back home as soon as possible – but only when the British Government is satisfied that everything possible has been done to keep them safe.

But Mr El Sisi, a former defence minister and commander-in-chief of Egyptian armed forces, was unapologetic in his analysis. Having first conceded that, “conducting diplomacy often requires a few rather ugly compromises of our values” and acknowledging that practical engagement with Egypt is essential, he questioned the wisdom of inviting Al-Sisi before the manner of his power-grab and human rights issues were fully addressed.

In a statement Mr Corbyn, who was himself accused of being a threat to national security by the Prime Minister in his conference speech, said Mr Cameron should not be rolling out the red carpet. Asked about human rights, he said: “What about the millions of Egyptians who face hardship every day?”

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Mr Smith said: “The uprisings of 2011 were fuelled by a desire for human rights and democracy – a desire that has not gone away, but that is being suppressed by a cruel, authoritarian regime”.

David Cameron must raise human rights during Egyptian president's UK visit