Egypt declares British politician persona non grata after his criticism of Gaza aid delays

Egypt declares UK politician persona non grata

CAIRO — Egypt on Friday declared renegade British lawmaker George Galloway persona non grata, accusing him of incitement after his harsh criticism of Cairo over delays in an aid convoy’s entry into Gaza, the foreign ministry said.

“George Galloway is considered persona non grata and will not be allowed to enter into Egypt again,” a Foreign Ministry statement said. The activist left Egypt Friday morning from Cairo airport.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit described the aid convoy Galloway participated in as “farcical” and said the country would no longer allow such solidarity convoys into the Hamas-run coastal area.

In a statement later distributed to media, Aboul Gheit said future aid donations to Gazans would have to be unloaded at Egypt’s port of El-Arish on the Mediterranean coast, from where Egyptian authorities and the Red Crescent would take the supplies and deliver them to the Palestinians in the blockaded area.

Earlier, British press reported Galloway had been deported from Egypt. They said he was forcefully taken by police from the Rafah crossing with Gaza to Cairo airport where he was put on departing British Airways plane.

A police officer maintained that security personnel only escorted him for his own protection.

“It was to protect him from the Egyptian people’s anger,” the officer said on condition of anonymity because he was allowed to speak to the media. “He was told that he is a troublemaker and his behavior is undermining Egyptian security.”

Galloway led more than 500 activists as part of an international aid convoy to Gaza. They entered Gaza late Wednesday from Egypt after a month of traveling. Egypt gave them only 24 hours in the blockaded seaside strip before it said it would re-close the crossing.

On Tuesday, clashes erupted between members of the convoy and Egyptian riot police in El-Arish after the convoy was delayed due to the nature of some of the materials it was carrying, and dozens of protesters and police were injured.

Seven convoy members were ordered arrested when they return to Egypt.

A sympathy protest along the Gaza-side of the border Wednesday degenerated into stone-throwing scuffles and exchange of fire between Egyptian security and Palestinian gunmen, killing one Egyptian border guard.

The convoy was organized by the Britain-based group Viva Palestina, which planned to deliver hundreds of tons of aid.

Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on Gaza after Hamas overran the strip in 2007, seizing control of the territory from Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel says the blockade is meant to pressure Hamas and prevent raw materials from reaching militants, while it allows limited humanitarian supplies into the territory. A trickle of aid is allowed in through borders with Egypt and Israel.

International groups have organized several aid convoys to the coastal strip, with tons of aid, although many of the convoy are meant as a protest against the blockade.