Sudanese columnist deported from Egyptian airport

The General Journalists’ Union and the Sudanese Journalists' Network strongly condemn the detention of Sudanese journalist and writer El Tahir Sati for hours at Cairo International Airport today.

After he arrived at Cairo Airport, authorities prevented Sati, an influential columnist at the El Intibaha daily newspaper, from entering Egypt. After being held for a number of hours, he was deported, under guard, via Addis Ababa to Khartoum.

In a press in a statement today, the Sudanese Journalists’ Network requested the Egyptian authorities to differentiate between governments and individuals – referring to the recent animosity between Egypt and Sudan.

The Network further points to the fact that Sati obtained an entry visa from the Egyptian embassy in Khartoum “to stand by his wife, who preceded him to Cairo for the purpose of medical treatment”. It strongly rejected “the arbitrary measures taken by the Egyptian authorities against the journalist, and the improper treatment of him during the unjustified detention period”.

Relations between Cairo and Khartoum rapidly deteriorated in January, allegedly after the Egyptian Supreme State Security Prosecution reported in January that terrorists associated with the Muslim Brotherhood have received military training and intelligence support in Sudan.

El Intibaha is an extreme-rightist independent daily newspaper, founded in 2006 by El Tayeb Mustafa, a senior member of the ruling National Congress Party and uncle of President Al Bashir. In his columns, Sati more than once fulminated against the Egyptian government.