Swede claims he was tortured by Egyptian police

"They almost killed me. The only thing I wanted was to see my wife and family again before I died," 22-year-old Aaed Nijim told Swedish tabloid Expressen. Swedish authorities confirmed today they had been in contact with a Swede, aged 20 to 25, who "said he had been in prison."

"We cannot confirm what has happened to him," foreign ministry spokesman Tobias Nilsson told AFP, adding the man had yet to come in to the embassy for assistance.
Nijim, a resident of Teckhomatorp in southern Sweden who had been vacationing in Egypt, said he had been taking pictures of a mosque in the al-Abasia suburb of Cairo last Tuesday when two police in civilian clothing arrested him and drove him to a nearby police station.

Nijim told Expressen he was beaten by several officers at the police station, and a policeman told him he would spend the rest of his life in prison if he tried to call the Swedish embassy.

"They threatened sexual assault," he told the paper, alleging also that he had been tortured with electric charges attached to his testicles. He said he had lost all his money and passport and criticised the Swedish embassy in Cairo for not doing more to help him.

Swedish foreign ministry spokesman Nilsson however told AFP the man had called the embassy twice at the weekend, both times during the evening curfew, when embassy personnel could not go out to pick him up.

He had been asked to come in during the day so "he can receive financial assistance and a passport" to return to Sweden, Nilsson said. Sweden is one of many countries to have issued a warning against travel to Egypt after nearly a week of bloody anti-government protests in the country.