LONDON: An Egyptian-British mother on hunger strike in protest against the detention of her activist son in Cairo has been given a glucose drip after being hospitalized in London, a campaign group said on Friday.
Laila Soueif, 68, has been on hunger strike for 152 days and was admitted to London’s St. Thomas’s Hospital late on Monday due to “dangerously new lows” in her blood sugar and sodium levels, as well as her blood pressure.
She had previously turned down artificial glucose, despite being warned there was an “immediate risk to life,” but agreed at the request of her daughters Sanaa and Mona to take one dose “in an effort to extend her life,” campaign group Free Alaa said in a press release.
Soueif has lived on only coffee, tea and rehydration sachets since September 29, 2024, the date that marked five years in detention for her son Alaa Abdel Fattah.
Fattah, 43, a pro-democracy and rights campaigner, was arrested by Egyptian authorities in September 2019 and later given a five-year sentence for “spreading false news.”
His family criticized his trial as a “farce” and has demanded he be released having completed his sentence.
Soueif started the drip on Thursday and the dose was given to her over the course of 12 hours “due to the dangers of the intervention at this stage in her hunger strike,” said the campaign group.
“Doctors at the hospital have stressed that this is a temporary intervention, that they cannot guarantee it will extend Laila’s life, and that if it does it will be for a limited time, possibly only a few hours, and if lucky a few days,” they added.
Soueif has lost almost 30 kilograms (66 pounds) since starting her hunger strike, which she has vowed to continue until her son is released.
For weeks, Soueif braved London’s bitter cold to demonstrate outside Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Downing Street office each working day since the date she says her son should have been released.
Sanaa Seif called on Starmer to take urgent action.
“When we met Keir Starmer he asked us for more time and promised that he would do all he could to free my brother,” she said.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to convince mum to do this again. So we desperately urge the prime minister to use this time well,” she added.
![]()
Hunger-striking mother of jailed UK-Egyptian activist on glucose drip
Short Url
https://arab.news/yznym
Hunger-striking mother of jailed UK-Egyptian activist on glucose drip
- Laila Soueif, 68, has been on hunger strike for 152 days and was admitted to London’s St. Thomas’s Hospital late on Monday
- She had previously turned down artificial glucose, despite being warned there was an “immediate risk to life“
Man charged with throwing ‘explosive device’ into Australia Day rally
SYDNEY: Australian police charged a man Tuesday with throwing an “explosive device” with nails and ball bearings into a crowd of thousands at an Indigenous rights rally.
Police alleged that the 31-year-old man removed the device from his bag and threw it from a walkway into a crowd of more than 2,000 people in Perth, Western Australia, during the protest on Monday.
Thousands rallied for Indigenous peoples’ rights on Australia’s national holiday, Australia Day, which marks the 1788 arrival of a British fleet in Sydney Harbor.
Alerted by a member of the public, police took the man into custody and bomb response officers inspected the device, the Western Australia Police Force said in a statement.
“It was confirmed to be a homemade improvised explosive device containing a mixture of volatile and potentially explosive chemicals, with nails and metal ball bearings affixed to the exterior,” police said.
“A subsequent search of the man’s home was conducted, where it is further alleged a combination of chemicals and materials consistent with the manufacture of homemade explosives was located.”
The device did not explode and there were no injuries.
The suspect was charged with an attempt to cause harm and with making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances.
Police alleged that the 31-year-old man removed the device from his bag and threw it from a walkway into a crowd of more than 2,000 people in Perth, Western Australia, during the protest on Monday.
Thousands rallied for Indigenous peoples’ rights on Australia’s national holiday, Australia Day, which marks the 1788 arrival of a British fleet in Sydney Harbor.
Alerted by a member of the public, police took the man into custody and bomb response officers inspected the device, the Western Australia Police Force said in a statement.
“It was confirmed to be a homemade improvised explosive device containing a mixture of volatile and potentially explosive chemicals, with nails and metal ball bearings affixed to the exterior,” police said.
“A subsequent search of the man’s home was conducted, where it is further alleged a combination of chemicals and materials consistent with the manufacture of homemade explosives was located.”
The device did not explode and there were no injuries.
The suspect was charged with an attempt to cause harm and with making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.