German officials expressed surprise and anger today over reports from Cairo that the Egyptian authorities would not deliver to Germany for trial a notorious war criminal, Dr. Hans Eisele, for whom extradition proceedings had been started. Eisele, who was wanted for trial in Munich for crimes against humanity in Nazi concentration camps, had found sanctuary in Egypt.
The Cairo police notified the West German authorities on July 12 that Eisele had been arrested on their complaint and turned over to Interpol, the international police organization. On July 29, the Foreign Ministry here commenced official extradition proceedings and instructed the German ambassador in Cairo to inform the authorities that Eisele was wanted for criminal, not political, offenses. An embassy official stated last week that Eisele was in prison and his transfer to Munich only awaited completion of the legal procedures.
This week-end, however, the Egyptian authorities said that Eisele had “disappeared” without leaving any trace. The head of the Egyptian passport bureau said that information that Eisele had been arrested and imprisoned had been based on a “misunderstanding,” and that Eisele had never been in Egyptian custody. The German embassy spokesman in Cairo indicated belief that Eisele was no longer in Egypt.
Political circles here stress the fact that under general security measures enforced in Egypt today, Eisele, an alien, could not have left Egypt without the knowledge, if not the assistance, of the authorities. They predicted that the development would have a bad effect on German-Egyptian relations.
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