Egypt Orders Detention of 18 After Internet Sex Inquiry

Egyptian prosecutors ordered the detention of 17 women and a Lebanese man pending investigations into allegations of using the Internet for commercial phone sex.

The suspects were ordered detained for four days after security forces raided a company office they use and confiscated phones and computer devices there, according to a statement from the Giza security directorate. The owner of the company, an American of Lebanese descent who is not among those arrested, lives in Lebanon and owns satellite channels that he uses to encourage calls to international numbers used for sex chats, it alleged.