Teenager 'kidnapped' in Cairo gets engaged to second man

13 April 2012

When police announced that runaway schoolgirl Amy Robson had been found safe and well in Egypt, it seemed to bring a happy ending to her bizarre escapade.

In fact, the drama for her frantic parents was only just beginning.

A Daily Mail investigation has discovered that since she disappeared from her village home in Cumbria two weeks ago, 17-year-old Amy has:

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Lovestruck: Amy returned to the resort of Hurghada in the hope of a reunion with a boathand she met on holiday

• Been jilted by the Egyptian boathand whom she flew out to meet after falling in love with him during a family holiday last year;

• Become engaged to another Egyptian, a 29-year-old cafe owner;

• Been taken to hospital and treated for appendicitis;

• Seen her new sweetheart dragged off to jail accused of kidnapping her, and;

• Vowed to marry him and stay in Egypt when enough cash can be found to hire him a lawyer and get him out of jail.

Amy's astonishing odyssey began when her father James, an electrician, and mother Janet left her alone over Easter at the family home in the hamlet of Beaumont, Carlisle, so she could revise for her AS-level exams.

The teenager, described by neighbours as polite, shy and not at all streetwise, booked a flight to Egypt and slipped out the house and the country without a word to her family on Good Friday.

Her plan was to be reunited with the boathand she had met in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada and kept in contact with by e-mail.

Arriving in the town, she went to an Internet cafe in a run-down area to arrange the reunion, but received no response to her e-mails.

Locked away: Cafe owner Mohamed El Sayed

As the day progressed the disappointed schoolgirl's attention diverted to 29-year-old Mohamed El Sayed, a former policeman who had recently taken over the running of the cafe.

In an apparent ruse to get his attention, Amy told him she could not remember the way back to her hotel - or even its name - and he gallantly spent the next few hours scouring the resort with her until they found it.

She returned to the cafe the following day and the pair were soon inseparable.

"It was obvious they were completely in love almost immediately," said a friend of El Sayed.

"They were always holding hands and whispering to each other. I think they were each very inexperioperationenced in these things, and this was a true first love for both of them."

When Amy gave El Sayed - who is a Muslim - a chocolate Easter Bunny as a present he was "overcome with joy".

The friend added: "She was a quiet girl who would hardly ever start conversations, but within about three days she started talking about marriage.

"She said she wanted to marry Mohamed and stay in Egypt rather than go back to England."

The resort of Hurghada

El Sayed needed little persuasion and suggested they travel to the British Embassy in Cairo to organise the paperwork for a ceremony.

But before the nuptials he invited her to his home in the village of Kafr el Gazar, about an hour from the capital, so his parents could meet her and give their approval.

She spent most of her time there in the kitchen of the small apartment helping his mother prepare food for the family.

Then, as the couple were preparing to go to the embassy, she became ill and had to be taken to hospital for emergency surgery to have her appendix removed.

Many of El Sayed's extended family attended the hospital to support her during the operation.

His mother sat by her bed and held her hand when she came round from her anaesthetic.

In the meantime, with Amy's parents desperate to trace her, Interpol had alerted police in Hurghada. When El Sayed learned from his brother that officers had come to the cafe looking for Amy, he resolved to return and explain what had happened.

He arranged for Amy to make the gruelling six-hour bus journey to the resort only a few days after her For reasons which are not clear, he let her travel alone while he followed on the next bus.

She arrived at 1am on Tuesday and took a taxi back to her original hotel - where she was greeted by four policemen posted there in case she returned.

Mohammed Alam El Dean, who acted as a translator during her subsequent police interview, told the Mail: "She was shocked - she had no idea that she had caused such problems.

"She was very tired after her trip and her operation, but kept saying that he had done nothing wrong.

"She told one officer that she loved him and she wanted to marry him and stay in Egypt."

A representative for the British Consul who was also at the hotel encouraged Amy to phone her parents, who immediately flew out to be with her, leaving their other two children with relatives.

When El Sayed arrived at the bus station police were waiting and took him to the hotel for interrogation.

Mr El Dean said: "When he was brought in Amy jumped up and they kissed in front of everyone. They sat together telling each other nice things. They seemed very happy."

The police interview lasted for eight hours. It culminated with El Sayed being taken to prison accused of kidnap.

He remains there today as his family and friends desperately try to raise the cash to pay for a lawyer, insisting his only crime is to have fallen in love with an English girl.

Amy, meanwhile, was taken into the care of the British officials until her parents arrived.

They have since been staying with their daughter in the same low-budget hotel in the centre of the resort.

Whether they will persuade Amy to return with them remains to be seen.

British police have already said that since she left home of her own accord and no crime has been committed, she cannot be compelled to come home.

The friend of El Sayed said: "She is a shy girl but it is clear she loves him and he loves her. Amy wants to stay with Mohamed.

"They will have to release him eventually because everyone knows he did nothing wrong. Then they will get married, I am sure of it."

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