Minister refuses to say if he believes torture claims

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan has refused to say whether he believes Irish prisoner Ibrahim Halawa’s claims that he has been tortured in an Egyptian jail.

The comments came as Mr Halawa, from Dublin, called on Taoiseach Enda Kenny to personally intervene in his case after a trial date was put back, for a tenth time, to October 4.

Mr Flanagan said he took the torture allegations seriously, but stopped short of saying that he believed them.