UK 'deeply concerned' about jailed Egyptian-British dissident's hunger-striking mother

LONDON (Reuters) -The British government said on Tuesday it was "deeply concerned" about the health of the mother of jailed Egyptian-British dissident Alaa Abd el-Fattah, Laila Soueif, who has been admitted to hospital while continuing a hunger strike.

Soueif, 69, a mathematics professor from a family of prominent activists and intellectuals, was taken to a London hospital last week and has said she is prepared to die to help secure the release of her son from prison.

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government was worried about Soueif's health and continues to urge the Egyptian government to release her son.

"We are deeply concerned by Laila's hospitalisation and remain in regular contact with her family regarding her welfare," Starmer's spokesman told reporters.

The Egyptian embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Abd el-Fattah, a software developer and blogger who rose to prominence as an activist in the 2011 Arab Spring, was jailed for five years in Egypt in 2021 over a social media post, a sentence that followed several previous spells in prison, including before and after the uprising.

Starmer's spokesman said the British foreign secretary David Lammy spoke to his Egyptian counterpart on Sunday and urged him to release Abd el-Fattah.

"The government is absolutely committed to Alaa Abd el-Fattah's release," he said. "Further engagement at the highest levels of the Egyptian government continues."

Abd el-Fattah was sentenced to five years in prison in 2021 on charges of spreading fake news, for sharing a social media post about the death of a prisoner. The accusation is commonly levelled at critics of the government and activists who post on social media.

(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; editing by Alistair Smout)