Abdel Rahman Mohamed-Cairo
Mustafa Hamed, son of a US citizen of Egyptian descent, has appealed to President Donald Trump for help in the release of his mother, who is being held in Egyptian prisons.
"Please, help me and my mother, we are American citizens," the 13-year-old told Trump in a video on CNN.
Human rights sources said that Reem Mohamed Desouki was arrested on July 7, after questioning for hours after her arrival and her son coming to Cairo airport, before she released her child.
In another video, Mustafa said, "America please, I just need my mother, we are not supposed to be in this problem right now."
According to human rights sources, Reem has been accused of criticizing and attacking the Egyptian government through social networking sites, which her family replied that this comes against the background of her participation in pages discussing the conditions of social and economic life in Egypt.
For its part, the State Department confirmed its knowledge of reports about the detention of a citizen in Egypt, without clarifying whether Reem was the destination.
"We are aware of the case of Mrs. Desouki and we are providing consular services at this time," Michael Harker, a Washington embassy spokesman in Cairo, was quoted as saying.
During an attempt by the child's uncle to visit Mustafa and his mother, he was also arrested. "My family is afraid to go with me so that what happened to my uncle will not happen again," he said in a recording.
Mustafa lives with a number of his relatives in Cairo in the hope that his mother will be released soon, and that he can return with her to Pennsylvania, before the start of school at the end of this month.
"Her arrest is evidence of the levels of repression that Sisi has reached," said human rights activist Mohamed Sultan, who has launched a campaign to launch Reem and runs a Washington-based rights group.