It's not every day that a homicide suspect who's been on the lam for months says "thank you" to the cops escorting him to a new jail cell.

But then, it's not every day that an accused double-murderer from the mean streets of North Philly flees as far as the sprawl of Cairo — where international detective work landed Kyree Slocum in an Egyptian prison, sleeping 10 to a cell on a concrete floor.

"He said going to CFCF [Philadelphia's Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, on State Road] would be like staying at the Hilton," said FBI Special Agent Kevin McShane, who, along with several Philadelphia detectives, accompanied Slocum, 35, back from Cairo on a commercial airliner in mid-June.

Slocum thanked the FBI and Philadelphia police for getting him out of Egypt, McShane said.

After Slocum's arrest May 29, McShane said, Slocum was held in an Egyptian prison cell that had no beds and slept 10 to a cell, on a concrete floor.

It was a harsh end to a trans-Atlantic obyssey that left a tattooed and Philly fugitive in a crowded and unfamiliar corner of the Middle East, where he finally was nabbed.

Slocum, formerly of North Philadelphia, is charged with the murders of Barry Johnson, 33, and Rubin Rasheen Eason, 28, inside a rowhouse on Marshall Street near York last October. Authorities have said that the slayings involved a turf war between rival drug gangs.

Slocum was convicted of state drug offenses in 2002 and 2006.

Shortly after the killings, Slocum fled to Augusta, Ga., but later left New York's JFK Airport on Nov. 28, bound for Cairo using a fake passport, authorities said.

McShane said that Slocum stole personal information from a family friend to create the bogus passport. An investigation into the alleged passport fraud is continuing, McShane said.

The agent said that authorities developed information through Philadelphia police "sources" that Slocum may have fled to Cairo, and the information was passed on to an FBI legal attache in Cairo and was later shared with Egyptian authorities.

A source familiar with Slocum's case said that he was "ratted out" by a police informant.

So why did Kyree allegedly flee to Cairo?

McShane said he didn't know, but it may not have been a wise choice.

"He's not Egyptian, he doesn't speak Arabic, he's not familiar with the customs over there, so he's going to stand out even more," he said, adding that Slocum had numerous tattoos, including a distinctive one on his left forearm that read "Talaban," which referred to a rap group.

McShane said that authorities learned that Slocum was living in an apartment in Nasr City, a Cairo neighborhood familiar to tourists.

The area consists mostly of condominiums and is famous for of nearby shopping malls frequented by locals and tourists.

McShane said that Egyptian authorities eventually put Slocum under surveillance.

They arrested him May 29. It took six Egyptian and Interpol police officers to subdue Slocum, who initially tried to flee and resisted arrest, McShane said.

The FBI was notified June 4 by Egyptian authorities that they had captured Slocum, and arrangements were made to return him to Philadelphia on a flight leaving Cairo on June 19.

Authorities said that it didn't appear that Slocum was working while he was in Cairo.

"He was just hanging out," said John Kitzinger, head of the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force in Philly. "It seemed like he was a playboy."

McShane said that returning Slocum from Egypt was easier than in many countries because no formal extradition proceedings were required.

"They basically expel him," he said.

One of the Philly cops who accompanied Slocum back to Philadelphia on June 19 was recently retired detective Leon Lubiejewski.

In fact, it was his last day on the job, after a 39-year career with the police department, most of it as a homicide detective.

"It was rather exhilarating to be flying in from Cairo with a double-murderer," said Lubiejewski, who had spent the last five years assigned to the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force to hunt down fugitives.

The FBI said that Slocum might not have been apprehended but for the cooperation among them, the Philadelphia police and the Egyptian authorities.

Slocum is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Aug. 12.

Staff writer Will Bunch contributed to this report.