American Journalist Expelled From Egypt

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American Journalist Expelled From Egypt

An American reporter for the independent Egyptian weekly The Cairo Times was denied entry into Egypt when returning from the U.S. and left the next day after being detained at Cairo airport.

Charles Levinson was returning from a three-week vacation on January 28th but had his passport taken away at the airport. He was then escorted to a State Security detention area. He was then held in the transit area overnight. "No one ever gave me any reason for my detention or gave me any idea of how long I would be held. I was unable to make any phone calls or to notify anybody that I had been detained." Levinson said. At 1 am he was informed that he was being denied entry and would have to return to the United States. He left on a British Airways flight later that morning.

This is the second time Levinson has been detained at Cairo airport. In December 2003, he was held for four hours by State Security upon returning from Istanbul, where he was covering the bombings of the HSBC bank and the British Consulate for the San Francisco Chronicle. State authorities have not released any statements concerning Levinson's detention and expulsion. Therefore reasons for his detention are no more than conjecture at this point.

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American Journalist Expelled From Egypt