CAIRO (Dispatches) – The mother of jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah has been admitted to hospital after 242 days of hunger strike in protest at her son’s imprisonment in Egypt, her family announced. Laila Soueif, 69, began her hunger strike on September 29, 2024, the day her son was expected to be released after completing a five-year prison sentence. On Monday, she was taken to hospital in London after her blood sugar levels dropped sharply, a statement released by her campaign said. This is the second time she has been hospitalized since February. Her family says she has lost more than 40 percent of her body weight since September. Alaa Abdel Fattah, 43, rose to prominence in the Arab Spring uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak and became a symbol of suffering during the repression that followed.