Blogger gets 15 more days

The mother of the prominent blogger, Alaa Abdel-Fattah, says Egypt's military has extended her son's detention for 15 days.

Laila Soueif, on the eighth day of a hunger strike to protest against her son's detention, said yesterday that she planned to continue until he was freed.

Military prosecutors detained Mr Abdel-Fattah on 30 October after he refused to answer questions over his alleged role in sectarian clashes that killed 27 people, most Christians.

Many view his detention as an effort to smear activists who helped lead the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak and who have become harsh critics of the military council now governing the country.

The UN has called for the release of Mr Abdel-Fattah and others it says were locked up for exercising free speech. AP