A British-Egyptian activist apologised Monday for resurfaced social media posts in which he called for violence against Zionists and police, as opposition lawmakers urged the UK government to revoke his citizenship.
The posts, dating back to 2010, came to light just days after Alaa Abdel Fattah returned to Britain following years of diplomatic efforts by London to secure his release from detention in Egypt.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “delighted” Abdel Fattah had been reunited with his loved ones, but the opposition Conservatives and hard-right Reform UK party called for the activist to be deported.
“Looking at the tweets now — the ones that were not completely twisted out of their meaning — I do understand how shocking and hurtful they are, and for that I unequivocally apologise,” Abdel Fattah said in a statement.
“I must also stress that some tweets have been completely misunderstood, seemingly in bad faith,” he added.
Abdel Fattah was a leading voice in Egypt’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising.
He was detained in Egypt in September 2019, and in December 2021 was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of spreading false news.
He went on hunger strike this March while behind bars and was later released after being pardoned by Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi in September.
– ‘Abhorrent’ posts condemned –
The UK foreign ministry on Sunday condemned Abdel Fattah’s earlier posts, describing them as “abhorrent” in a statement.
But it added that it had been “a long-standing priority under successive governments” to work for his release.
A UK government official speaking on condition of anonymity said Monday that the Foreign Office was “looking carefully” at the handling of the case, without elaborating further.
Abdel Fattah was granted UK citizenship in December 2021 when the Conservatives were in power.
He obtained it through his British-born mother, who herself went on hunger strike during her son’s imprisonment.
“If the Prime Minister really was unaware that El Fattah was an extremist, he should immediately retract his comments expressing ‘delight’ at his arrival and begin proceedings to revoke his citizenship and deport him,” the Conservatives’ justice spokesman, Robert Jenrick posted on X.
Anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, leader of Reform, wrote a letter to interior minister Shabana Mahmood urging her to “order” the deportation of Abdel Fattah.
“It should go without saying that anyone who possesses racist and anti-British views such as those of Mr el-Fattah should not be allowed into the UK,” Farage wrote.
Starmer’s official spokesman told reporters Monday that the prime minister “wasn’t aware” of Abdel Fattah’s posts when he hailed his arrival in Britain.
He added that citizenship can only be revoked from Britons who obtain it “by fraud, or against the most dangerous individuals, such as terrorists, extremists and serious organized criminals”.
“There is a high bar to meet these thresholds,” the spokesman said.
Abdel Fattah arrived in the UK last Friday after Egypt’s attorney general lifted an apparent travel ban.
The Freedom for Alaa campaign said the activist had been reunited with his 14-year-old son, who lives in the southern city of Brighton.
Abdel Fattah was nominated for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize in 2014 but the group backing him withdrew the nomination for the human rights award, saying they had discovered a tweet from 2012 in which he called for the murder of Israelis.
bur-tc-pdh/
© Agence France-Presse
