Arabic Press Review: Egypt sends six-year-old boy to prison

Egypt sends six-year-old child to prison

An Egyptian court sentenced a six-year-old boy to six months in prison after convicting him of "attacking the authorities", according to the London-based newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi.

Abu al-Hassan Sabri, the father of six-year-old Mohammed, was surprised to receive a phone call from his hometown saying that his son was facing jail time.

Sabri told Al-Quds al-Arabi that he thought the caller was joking, but later described feeling shocked and horrified at the accusations, according to the newspaper.

The case against Sabri's son dates back to last October, when police attempted to arrest a wanted person. The police have accused 29 people, including six-year-old Mohammed, of attacking them during the attempted arrest.

The courts later tried all of them in absentia and handed out guilty verdicts against ten of the 29, Mohammed included.

70,000 Algerians living as undocumented immigrants worldwide 

The chairman of the General Federation of Algerian Immigrants, Said Ben Rokia, said 70,000 Algerians were living as undocumented immigrants across the world, according to the Algerian newspaper Echorouk el Yawmi.

Rokia said that some 5,000 undocumented immigrants of Algerian origin in Europe have managed to obtain residency status in various countries by marrying Europeans.

He said the 50,000 Algerians live illegally in France, with 10,000 undocumented Algerians in Spain and 3,000 in Italy, with the rest divided among other European countries, such as Britain, Norway, Germany, as well as Canada.

Jordanian king commemorates Amman bombings

Jordan's King Abdullah commemorated the 13th anniversary of the Amman bombings, which targeted three different hotels at the same time and killed dozens of people. 

In his post, Abdullah described the bombings as "painful" and said that Jordanians were a "people of firm resolve, steadfastness and brotherhood".

The bombings were considered the worst in Jordan's modern history. Among the dead included a Jordanian family who threw a wedding party at one of the hotels.

Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack in 2005.  

* Arabic press review is a digest of reports that are not independently verified as accurate by Middle East Eye.