The United States has expressed disappointment that an Egyptian court has rejected the appeal of a blogger, convicted for insulting Islam and the Egyptian president.
State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack said Thursday the court's decision is a setback for human rights in Egypt.
He said the U.S. is deeply concerned that a blogger was sentenced for expressing his opinions. He said freedom of expression is critical in a democratic society.
On Monday, an Egyptian appeals court upheld a lower court decision last month to sentence blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman to four years in prison - three for insulting Islam and one for insulting President Hosni Mubarak.
Suleiman plans to bring the latest decision to the country's highest appeals court.
In his blog published in 2004, Suleiman called Mr. Mubarak a dictator. He wrote that Al-Azhar University, the seat of Sunni Muslim learning, trains extremists.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
