Some U.S. lawmakers have urged the Trump administration to impose sanctions on Egyptian officials following the death of an American citizen during hunger strike in an Egyptian jail, where he was kept for over six years on trumped up charges.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media.

Accusing U.S. President Donald Trump of abandoning Mustafa Kassem, who tried to reach out to the U.S. president several times for help to obtain freedom from the regime of Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy blamed the White House for inaction.

Kassem was arrested by Egyptian security forces in August 2013, who accused him of participating in mass protests when millions of Egyptians took to the streets to reject the military coup against the elected government of Mohammad Morsi.

"The White House refused to use its leverage to obtain his release. Instead, Trump has called President el-Sisi a 'great friend' and his 'favorite dictator'. That is as appalling as it is insulting to the families of President Sisi's victims," said the Vermont senator in a tweet.