SPECIAL REPORT

American held at Cairo airport with weapons

Related Topics

CAIRO | Wed May 12, 2010 11:39am EDT

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian-American was arrested at Cairo airport on Tuesday night after arriving on a direct flight from New York carrying two pistols, 250 bullets, two swords and 11 knives in his luggage, airport officials said.

It was not immediately clear how Mohamed Ibrahim, a university botany professor teaching in the United States, was able to get through security in New York and board the plane.

Ibrahim, who is of Egyptian origin, was detained on accusations of trying to smuggle the arms into the country. It is illegal to import weapons into Egypt without a permit.

No other details were available of the New York airport involved or the airline.

(Writing by Yasmine Saleh; editing by Ralph Boulton)

Comments (0)
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.