Egypt prisoners refuse to leave riot-hit jails



CAIRO- Some prisoners at Cairo's Abu Zaabel prison on Sunday refused to leave their cells despite a mass breakout by other convicts amid a nationwide revolt, saying they only had a short time left to serve.
As residents descended on the smouldering jail to loot food and Islamists searched for missing comrades in the riot-hit jail, some prisoners said they would rather stay put.



"Come out, come out," an Egyptian man said to a convict still behind bars.
"No I've only got a month left, I don't want to go out and get arrested again," said the worried-looking prisoner.
"Look, no one's going to come and give you food or water," said the free man.
"God will provide for me," was the only answer.
Thousands of prisoners have escaped from detention facilities around Egypt either during rioting or after prison guards abandoned their posts during anti-government protests that have killed at least 125 people.
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Sunday, January 30th 2011
AFP
           


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