afrol News - Egypt revokes ban on doctor's visas

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Egypt
Politics | Society | Human rights
Egypt revokes ban on doctor's visas

afrol News, 2 December - Egyptian government has revoked a ban on doctors visas from working in Saudi Arabia, state news agency, MENA has reported.

The ban was imposed last month following an outcry over the case of two Egyptian physicians sentenced in the kingdom to long imprisonment and 1,500 lashes for allegedly prescribing medication that turned Saudi princess into a drug addict and selling illegal drugs and including having affairs with patients.

MENA reported that government lifted a ban after getting assurances from Saudi government that Egyptian doctors would receive equal treatment in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Egyptians are hoping that President Hosni Mubarak will seek royal pardon for two doctors convicted while on his visit to Saudi Arabia the next Friday.

A Saudi court in October sentenced Egyptian doctors Rauof Amin and Shawki Abd Rabuh to 15 years in prison and 1,500 lashes each. Mr Amin was accused of causing the wife of a Saudi prince to get addicted to the painkiller, morphine, during two years of medical treatment, while Abd Rabuh was convicted of illegally dealing in drugs and having illicit affairs with female patients.

Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman, Hossam Zaki said his government would not abandon the case and would continue dialogue with Saudi Arabia, warning that the media excitement over the doctors' case could have serious consequences for their case.

Egyptian media reports sparked outrage across the country, reigniting questions about the government's inability to protect Egypt nationals working overseas.

The doctors and their families insist they are innocent and did not deserve the sentences. The Saudi government, however, said in a statement that the sentences were softer than they deserved.

Local media quoted Mrs Salamoni, saying: "Some Egyptian channels and newspapers are using the case of the two doctors for their own agenda and not for the sake of getting justice for the two doctors."

The doctors' original sentences were doubled by the Saudi court after they appealed.

Whipping is standard punishment in Saudi kingdom, whose judicial system follows fundamentalist Wahhabi doctrines. Such practices have long been a bone of contention between Riyadh and international human rights organisations.