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rfmcdonaldFrom Reuters:
A month ago, Xtra--Toronto's free gay weekly--carried an article highlighting el-Attar's sexual orientation which, despite the denials claimed by the article, definitely isn't heterosexual. el-Attar arrived in Canada claiming refugee status apparently on the grounds of his sexual orientation, while the Egyptian government claimed that el-Attar was a "gay Zionist".
The Canadian government aided el-Attar's defense, with Foreign Minister Peter MacKay questioning the legitimacy of el-Attar's confession on the grounds that it was produced only under torture. el-Attar's lawyer promises an appeal of his client's case.
An Egyptian court convicted an Egyptian-Canadian dual citizen on Saturday of spying for Israel and sentenced him to 15 years in prison, saying he had been "seduced by Satan" into selling out his country.
Three Israelis, said to be Mossad agents and tried in absentia, were also found guilty in the case and given 15-year jail terms. Israel has dismissed the case as a fabrication.
Egyptian trials of suspected spies for the Jewish state have often soured relations between Israel and Egypt, which in 1979 became the first Arab country to make peace with Israel.
Egyptian prosecutors said Mohamed Essam Ghoneim al-Attar, 31, was recruited by Israel in 2001 while living in Turkey.
They said intelligence agents helped him get a Canadian residency permit under a fake name and found him work in a bank to help him spy on Egyptians and other Arabs.
A month ago, Xtra--Toronto's free gay weekly--carried an article highlighting el-Attar's sexual orientation which, despite the denials claimed by the article, definitely isn't heterosexual. el-Attar arrived in Canada claiming refugee status apparently on the grounds of his sexual orientation, while the Egyptian government claimed that el-Attar was a "gay Zionist".
The Canadian government aided el-Attar's defense, with Foreign Minister Peter MacKay questioning the legitimacy of el-Attar's confession on the grounds that it was produced only under torture. el-Attar's lawyer promises an appeal of his client's case.
