Husband of woman abducted in Cairo says he's received new threat

From Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, CNN

November 26, 2011

Mona al-Gharib, wife of a Syrian TV anchor in Egypt, was kidnapped in Cairo on Friday.

Cairo (CNN) -- A Syrian-born broadcaster and activist working in Egypt said Saturday he's received an additional menacing text message following the alleged abduction of his pregnant wife.
Thaer al-Nashef, who describes himself as a "political activist against the Syrian regime," said he believes the kidnapping in Cairo of his 25-year-old wife, Mona al-Gharib, is the work of Syrian intelligence agents operating in the country.
There was no response from the Syrian government about the allegations.
Egyptian police confirmed that al-Nashef filed a police report about his wife's disappearance on Friday.
Al-Nashef said he went to the general prosecutor's office Saturday and was told officials have the phones of the suspected kidnappers under surveillance.
Al-Nashef said he was alerted to the alleged kidnapping by a text message.

"We have kidnapped your wife, you dirty dog, so you don't insult your master again," al-Nashef quoted the text as saying.
Al-Nashef said he received further text messages from the alleged kidnappers, including one that threatened that his wife would be raped, and another saying his wife would be killed if he went to the media with the story.
Saturday's message, he said, read: "The Nile will deliver your wife's dead body. You killed her by opening with your big mouth to the media. You are next."
Al-Nashef's wife is an Egyptian citizen and a student at Azhar University, he said. She is six months pregnant with their second child, he said.
Mustapha Khalil, the officer who took al-Nashef's report, said police will be contacting his mobile phone provider to investigate the origins of the text messages. Al-Nashef said the messages came from an Egyptian number.
Al-Nashef is a freelance journalist in Egypt and serves as a TV anchor for several networks, including January 25 TV, which was launched after the revolution, which toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The Syrian government has been accused of seeking retribution against relatives of Syrian activists working against the Bashar al-Assad regime from abroad.
The U.S. State Department announced this summer that it had received reports that Syrian mission personnel had been conducting video surveillance of people participating in peaceful demonstrations in the United States.