Jailed Egypt activist ends hunger strike

CAIRO: Jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah has ended a months long hunger strike, his family said on Tuesday, after fears for his health grew and amid criticism of Cairo during the ongoing COP27 climate summit.

Abdel Fattah, who consumed “only 100 calories a day” for seven months, escalated his strike, first to all food, then water as the COP27 climate summit opened on November 6 in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

“I have ended the strike,” the activist wrote in the letter handed to his family on Tuesday, but dated the day before, shared by his sister Mona Seif.

Abdel Fattah, 40, wrote to his mother, “I want to celebrate my birthday with you on Thursday”.

He asked her to “bring a cake” to her monthly visit to the Wadi al-Natroun prison, about 100-km northwest of the capital Cairo.