16.07.10 Egypt Politics and Security
Inquest in to death of Egyptian billionaire finds no foul-play
Dr Ashraf Marwan Funeral Procession, Egypt
In June 2007 Egyptian billionaire, Dr Ashraf Marwan, was found dead in his London home. Marwan fell from the balcony of his
fourth-floor flat in central London. The exact circumstances surrounding his
death were unclear.
In 2002, five years prior to his death, Marwan had been exposed as a spy by
historian Ahron Bregman. Talking about the Egyptian billionaire, Bregman said that Marwan was a double
agent who tried to warn Israelis about the impending Egyptian attack that later
became
the Yom Kippur war.
"Dr Marwan was a master spy - he was involved with the Israelis since 1969.
In my view, he misled them - he worked for Egypt. He was involved with the
Italians since 1971 and with the Americans since 1975,” said Bregman.
There were speculations about the circumstances of Marwan's death, fears of
suicide and the possibility of assassination. But a recent inquest in central
London returned an open verdict on the billionaire's death. Dr William Dolman, assistant deputy coroner for Westminster, said there was no evidence to
suggest that Marwan committed suicide, and further added that Marwan did not
exhibit
any signs of "mental or psychiatric disorder". According to Bregman, however, the Egyptian billionaire was terrified by the thought of
assassination, which played heaving on his mind.
"He mentioned at least twice to me that he was afraid and concerned about
assassination. He even mentioned Mossad, and I said to him at the time, and I still believe now, that it is not in the
interests of an organisation like Mossad to assassinate him because it would
make it more difficult to recruit more spies," said Bregman.
The coroner, however, found no evidence of foul-play, Mossad involvement or
murder. Two witnesses, both former business associates of Marwan, told the
inquest
that they had seen the businessman step to his death from his balcony.
Source: BBC News
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