CAIRO: Fourteen Russian students at Al-Azhar University who are still in police custody will be deported, the Russian Embassy in Cairo said. At least 40 foreign students were detained on Friday, May 29, following an early morning raid on their dormitories. Some of the students were released within several days, but many remained in custody without legal counsel or direct communication with their respective embassies. An official at the Russian consulate, who preferred to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said yesterday that immigration service representatives of the Russian consulate have met with the detained students. Local authorities said the students did not have the proper visas, according to the Russian embassy. "We've still got 14 students at the prison, and as far as we know, they will be deported, said the official. The arrests came in the midst of an array of measures taken throughout the city by Cairo security forces on the eve of President Barack Obama's visit to Cairo this past Thursday. A security official at Al-Azhar University told Agence France-Presse that many of the students had been approached for questioning in the week preceding the speech. "Security forces questioned around 300 foreign students at Al-Azhar last week for extra security checks ahead of Obama's visit, the security official said. Embassy officials have expressed concern over the conditions in which the students are being held. "This is not a hotel, the consulate representative said. "The conditions are not very good. Ruslan Volkov, attaché at the Russian Embassy, said last week that the released students reported "very difficult conditions, describing hot, cramped holding rooms. "There had been rumors that they were mistreated while in detention. According to The Moscow Times, one detainee, Khamid Alkhazurov, was quoted on Russian television news Channel One as saying: "We were herded into one room, measuring 5 square meters. Fifty people, it's unbearable. It's hot here and there are no facilities, and there are sick people among us. They are categorically refusing to carry out our demands. While most of the arrested Al-Azhar students were from Chechnya and Ingushetia in Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that some of those detained were also from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, France and Denmark. The consular representative said representatives from the respective embassies are providing similar counsel. The British Embassy in Cairo denied initial reports by the Russian Foreign Ministry that a British student had been detained. Representatives of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry were unavailable for comment.
