Egypt Denies Entry to Senior Palestinian Official

Cairo, 30 Jumadil Awwal 1438/28 February 2017 (MINA) – The Egyptian authorities denied Monday entry of Jibril al-Rajoub, chairman of the central committee of Fatah movement, into the country.

Rajoub, who heads its Higher Council for Youth and Sports and the Palestinian Football Association, had been invited by the Arab League to attend a conference in Cairo on terrorism; however, he was deported on arrival at Cairo airport, the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reported.

During the conference, Palestinian Justice Minister Ali Abu Diyak denounced the ban and withdrew from the event after delivering his speech.

The Egyptian Minister for Youth and Sports and representative of the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo were both in the airport to receive Rajoub as they were unaware of the ban order.

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Once he reached the airport, Rajoub was told he was on a no-entry list and put on a flight back to Jordan without giving any reason for his deportation.

Egyptian authorities have later commented on the incident saying that Rajoub had directed harsh criticism to Egypt’s President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi.

The allegations were strongly denied by Rajoub.(T/R04/RS05)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)