Government to review ‘information failures’ in British-Egyptian activist case
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has launched a review into what she calls “serious failures of information” in the case of British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah.
In a letter to the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooper said he, Sir Keir Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy were “none aware” of Mr Abd El Fattah’s historic tweets, which they deemed “disgusting”.
It comes after Conservatives and Reform UK called for the activist to be stripped of his UK citizenship and deported after social media posts resurfaced in which he called for the killing of Zionists and police.
Mr Abd El Fattah apologized, saying he understood “how shocking and hurtful” the posts were.
Sir Keir Starmer was criticized for saying he was “delighted” to see Mr Abd El Fattah arrive in the UK on Friday, three months after the democracy activist was released from prison in Egypt.
On Monday Sir Keir said the resurfaced tweets were “absolutely disgusting” and that the government was “taking steps to review the gaps in information in this case”.
“With the rise of antisemitism and recent horrific attacks, I know this has added to the distress of many in the UK Jewish community,” he added.
Earlier on Monday, Mr Abd El Fattah said he took allegations of antisemitism “very seriously” and suggested some of the posts had been “completely distorted from their meaning”.
He added: “Just as I was reunited with my family for the first time in 12 years, I was shocked that some of my historic tweets were being republished and used to question and attack my integrity and values, and turned into calls for the revocation of my citizenship.”
