Pompeo discusses with Sisi the "tragic death" of American Mustafa Kassem

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that he met Sunday in Berlin with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and discussed with him "the tragic death of American citizen Mustafa Qassem" in an Egyptian prison.

Qasim, 54, had been detained in Egypt since 2013 on the grounds of the "fourth" sit-in, and was suffering from diabetes and heart problems. He died on January 13, after nearly three months ago he started a hunger strike and stopped in the days The last even about drinking fluids.

The Egyptian Ministry of Interior confirmed that he received all aspects of health care during his sentence.

A statement issued by US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagos said that Pompeo, who met Sisi in Berlin on the sidelines of the international conference on Libya, "expressed his discontent about the unnecessary and tragic death of the American citizen detained in Egypt, Mustafa Qassem."

Pompeo had taken up the issue of this detainee with the Egyptian authorities before his death, and Washington had earlier condemned his death in prison, describing it as "unnecessary, tragic and could have been avoided."

Visit to Cairo
Qassem, an Egyptian citizen, immigrated to the United States, where he obtained American citizenship, and was arrested in 2013 during a visit to Cairo at a time when the Egyptian authorities were cracking down on protesters against the regime.

NGOs representing the Qasim family said that he "went to spend the money in a mall" when soldiers asked him for his papers and "beat and stopped him" when they saw his American passport.

Qasim was sentenced in 2018 to 15 years in prison for the crime of participating in demonstrations against the regime, but his defense team confirmed that no evidence was presented against him during the trial that targeted more than 700 accused.

Washington's tone has recently become more severe towards the Egyptian government, despite the friendship that President Donald Trump and his Egyptian counterpart have consistently shown.

Pompeo spoke in recent months of "concerns" about "freedom of the press and the human rights situation" in Egypt, in response to a series of arrests of journalists, intellectuals and political activists after rare demonstrations last September against Sisi.