Egyptian seeks damages from Sweden over expulsion

STOCKHOLM, June 8 (Reuters) An Egyptian expelled from Sweden and handed over to US agents in 2001 is claiming 30 million crowns (4.35 million dollar) in damages from the Swedish state, his lawyers said.

Al Zery and another Egyptian asylum-seeker, Ahmed Hussein Agiza, were expelled and flown by U.S. agents to Egypt where Al Zery served time in an Egyptian prison without trial and where his lawyers say he was tortured.

The damage claim handed in to Sweden's Chancellor of Justice would help ''partially repair the injuries sustained by Al Zery due to his expulsion five and a half years ago'', his lawyers said in a statement yesterday.

Earlier this year, the Swedish government overturned the expulsion of the two Egyptians and asked the Chancellor to address any claims for damages.

The deportation of Agiza, whose family says he was tortured before being sentenced to life by an Egyptian military court, has been criticised by the UN Committee Against Torture.

The UN committee said Sweden should have known Egypt uses torture on detainees, and governments could not use the US-led war on terror to justify exposing people to torture.

Egypt has denied mistreating the two men.

REUTERS JK PM0442