Sayyed Mahmoud Abou Dief is a 26-year-old unemployed Egyptian man, who says three years ago a man posing as a businessman promised to secure a job for him in Libya after a medical check-up at a Cairo hospital.

He says he was sedated and woke up hours later feeling acute pain on his right side. He then found out he had lost a kidney. A shy, thin dark man, Abou Dief talked to Reuters in Cairo about his case. He removed his shirt to reveal a long deep scar on his right side.

This is his story: ?This man overheard me asking about a vacancy as a waiter at a coffee shop. He told me ?I will help you get a job in Libya but you have to do some X-rays and tests for me.? I went with a friend of mine called Alaa to the office of the man and his associate ... They said we won?t have to pay anything.

I did some tests ... then he said I had to stay at an apartment downtown and wait for the final heart check ... he summoned me to a hospital where I met a doctor who placed me under a ?heart-testing machine?. I was given a sedative.

I woke up later feeling an acute pain. I was throwing up and crying. The nurse beside me said ?Thank God, the surgery went fine.? I asked her ?what surgery?? and she said that I had just had my kidney removed.

The chair was next to me. I picked it up and hit the nurse with it on her head. Then ? I don?t know how ? I stood up and smashed the window which was also close to me. I don?t know how I stood up. The nurse passed out and I passed out right away too.

I called the man and told him that I will never let him alone. He told me to meet him ... He told me ?you had a problem with your kidney and I had it removed for you. You should thank me.? He then gave me 4,000 Egyptian pounds (around Rs 22, 600) and said ?you have no proof that I have done this to you.? I went with my father and filed a police report. Forensic examiners proved that I had lost a kidney ... but I do not have any proof on paper that these people have done this to me ... the hospital denied that I had an operation there.

The case has been with the office of the public prosecutor since then. The men I have accused have denied any wrongdoing.

I have been unemployed since then because I cannot work long hours. My father pays me money but he cannot afford my medication as well. My only kidney is functioning at 85 per cent.

I still have hope. But I want to say that the government is unjust because it has not helped me. How come the government cannot do me justice? Am I supposed to claim my rights with my hand? I am willing to do so if the government won?t help me. I went to the Presidential Palace three months ago and told them I want to meet the president ... I took my shirt off and showed them my scar. They said ?go away or we will detain you.??

<B>ALAA SHAHINE</B>