Ashraf Marawaan 'Double agent' dead in an accident in London

 BBC News 

A former Egyptian president's son-in-law accused of spying for Israel has reportedly been found dead outside his London home.

Police have not confirmed his identity, but Egyptian state news claimed that the body of 62-year-old Ashraf Marwan was discovered outside his flat.

His father-in-law was the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Mr Marwan was suspected of working as a double agent for Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Police were called to Carlton House Terrace in south west London at 1340 BST on Wednesday.

A spokesman said they were treating the man's death as unexplained.

In a statement, police said: "We await formal identification and for next of kin to be informed.

"It is understood he may have fallen from a balcony, but inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the death continue."

Author's claims

There have been calls for an investigation into Mr Marwan's role in Israel's 1973 war with Egypt and Syria.

Allegations were first made against him in a book published in 2004 by Eli Zeira, who was Israeli chief of military intelligence during the conflict.

Mr Zeira claimed that in 1969 Mr Marwan tried to tip off the Israeli authorities in London about the planned attack, but his warning was ignored.

He later was allegedly recruited by Mossad.

Mr Marwan's name was also linked with claims of illicit weapons trading in the Middle East.

The Egyptian government has refused to comment on the allegations, but the Middle East News Agency reported that Mr Marwan received the highest honour for "achievements" during the 1973 war from former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Key adviser

Mr Marwan was the son of a military officer in Nasser's presidential guard and joined the army himself after a degree in chemical engineering.

After Nasser's death in 1970, he became a political and security adviser to his successor Sadat.

In the 1970s, Mr Marwan was head of Egypt's government-owned military industry complex before retiring and moving to the UK 25 years ago to work in private business.

He was married with two sons.


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