Heartache for family of Briton in Cairo jail

The wife of one of the Britons jailed in Egypt, Reza Pankhurst, told today of her heartache at his five-year sentence for supporting an outlawed Islamic group.

"He's my best friend, a great dad, and I miss him very much," said mother of two Hodan Pankhurst, 28, of East Ham.

"My children have been asking, 'Where's Daddy, when is he coming home?' Telling them they'll have to wait a little longer is one of the hardest things I've had to do."

Mr Pankhurst, also 28, a former public school boy, has been in Masreh-Torah prison, Cairo, since his arrest by armed police in April 2002.

His wife admits he was a member of Hizbut-ut-Tahir, the Islamic Liberation Party, in the UK. But she insists he is not a terrorist, does not support violence and was in Egypt to study Arabic and work at his internet company.