Briton due to be freed from Saudi Arabia is to undergo cancer tests
The British grandfather threatened with flogging for breaking Saudi
Arabia’s strict anti-alcohol laws is to undergo tests to establish whether his cancer returned while he was detained, his son has said.
Karl Andree, 74, is due to be released within days following a surprise announcement by the foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, on Wednesday.
Andree has been locked up since his arrest in Jeddah in August last
year when he was reportedly caught with homemade wine. The
grandfather-of-seven, who has worked as an oil executive in Saudi Arabia for 25 years, has had cancer three times and his wife, Verity, is in Britain receiving care for Alzheimer’s disease.
Andree’s son, Simon, told the Guardian on Thursday that his father
would undergo immediate tests for cancer when he returned to the UK.
He said: “First of all he needs to check to see what state his cancer
is in – whether he’s still in remission or whether anything else has
happened – so that will be one of the first things to happen.”
Simon said he had been told his father was “just overwhelmed” to hear
the news of his release although they had not yet had a chance to talk.
The Foreign Office telephoned Simon and told him that Hammond was in
Saudi Arabia, but the first he heard of his father’s release was when he
saw the announcement on television.
Describing his father’s time in detention, Simon said: “He’s been
looked after in prison – he hasn’t been mistreated or anything. He’s had
three meals a day. He’s had a bed. We’re waiting until he gets home so
he can have a checkup.”
Downing Street said Hammond had only been informed of Andree’s
release in a meeting with his counterpart and denied it was part of any
deal that would give Saudi Arabia anything in return.
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