US denies Egypt access to detained students - agency

CAIRO, Sept 1 (Reuters) US authorities have refused Egyptian embassy officials access to two engineering students held on explosives charges in the US state of South Carolina, Egypt's state news agency said today.

The two Egyptian students, Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed and Youssef Samir Megahed, are charged with transporting explosive materials across state lines without permits.

''US authorities have refused to allow the Egyptian embassy and cultural office in the United States to contact them,'' news agency MENA reported.

The men have been held since Aug. 4, when they were stopped for speeding in South Carolina a few miles from a US naval weapons station. Authorities said at the time that the men were carrying what appeared to be pipe bombs and other paraphernalia in the trunk of their car.

Federal prosecutors said that Mohamed, who is also charged with distributing information on how to build and use an explosive device, did so intending the information be used for ''an activity that constitutes a federal crime of violence''.

Mohamed said at a bail hearing that they were transporting fireworks.

MENA quoted Egyptian embassy sources as saying that Egyptian officials had repeatedly tried to contact the students, but that US authorities were ''evading'' their requests.

MENA said authorities would either say that the students did not want to talk to the embassy, or would give incorrect information about where they were being held.

Mohamed is a graduate student in civil engineering and a teaching assistant at the University of South Florida, where Megahed is also an engineering student, prosecutors said.

The charge for distributing information about explosive devices carried a maximum penalty fo 20 years in prison, federal officials said, while the transporting charge carries a possible 10-year sentence.

Both men were being held at the Berkeley County Jail in South Carolina. Bond was set at 0,000 for Mohamed and at 300,000 dollar for Megahed.

REUTERS SLD BST1610