Saudi Gazette/Okaz JEDDAH — The Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Tuesday in which it denied rumors that Ahmed Al-Jizawee, the Egyptian lawyer accused of smuggling narcotics into the Kingdom, had been executed. Quoting its Minister Plenipotentiary, the statement said Al-Jizawee had not been sentenced to death as the date of his trail had not been set. It said he was being interrogated in the presence of legal counsel provided by the Egyptian Consulate-General in Jeddah. The statement also said he was in touch with his family and was keeping them informed on the latest developments in the case. The official spokesman of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said the Assistant Foreign Minister for Consulate Affairs had received Al-Jizawee's wife who handed him documents and papers related to the case that were addressed to to the Egyptian Consulate-General in Jeddah. Meanwhile, Suleiman Al-Hanini, a legal advisor at the Makkah branch of the National Society for Human Rights said the Investigation and General Prosecution Bureau in Jeddah was still studying Al-Jizawee's case and had not yet issued formal charges. Al-Jizawee was arrested in April of this year at King Abdul Aziz International Airport by customs department personnel with a suitcase containing 21,380 Xanax pills. He said he was asked to deliver the pills, which are used to treat anxiety and panic attacks, to someone in Jeddah.
