Suspect on hunger strike hospitalized in Canada

An Egyptian refugee held in a Canadian jail was hospitalized Tuesday after 76 days on a hunger strike.

Mohammad Mahjoub was transferred from the Toronto West Detention Center and was reportedly in stable condition, according to Matthew Behrens, a Mahjoub advocate. He was returned to prison shortly after.

Mahjoub launched his hunger strike to protest living conditions at the detention center, where he has been held for five years and kept in solitary confinement for the past two. He has alleged he has been beaten and humiliated by prison guards.

Behrens said Mahjoub had only been drinking water, orange juice and occasional sips of broth and was suffering from high blood pressure and hepatitis C, which he contracted in jail.

He is one of five people being held by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service on security certificates based on secret evidence. Under federal law, the government can hold suspects indefinitely if they convince a judge the suspect is a threat.

He is accused by security officials of belonging to the Vanguards of Conquests, a militant group with ties to al-Jihad. But he denies any links.

Mahjoub has admitted meeting Osama bin Laden in Sudan in the 1990s when he worked in an agricultural plant owned by bin Laden.

Canadian authorities tried to deport Mahjoub a year ago, but a federal judge stayed the deportation order against Mahjoub, saying she was convinced he might be tortured if forced to return to Egypt, where he was convicted of having terrorism links.