Egyptian dissident sorry for tweets as Tories push for deportation from UKMOHAMED EL-RAAI/Harry SekulichEgyptian democracy activist Alaa Abdel Fattah has apologised for several of his old tweets that have resurfaced, as calls grow for him to be deported from the UK days after he arrived following his release from an Egyptian jail. The Conservative and Reform UK leaders say the home secretary should consider whether Fattah, a dual national, can be removed from the UK, after social media messages emerged of him calling for Zionists and police to be killed. The Times reports that some senior Labour MPs are also calling for Fattah's citizenship to be removed. After reviewing the historic tweets, Fattah said in a statement: "I do understand how shocking and hurtful they are, and for that I unequivocally apologise."Egyptian dissident should be deported from UK, Tories sayBritish-Egyptian activist arrives in UK after travel ban liftedI'm learning how to get back into life, freed British-Egyptian activist saysHe added, "I am shaken that, just as I am being reunited with my family for the first time in 12 years, several historic tweets of mine have been republished and used to question and attack my integrity and values, escalating to calls for the revocation of my citizenship."Fattah said he took allegations of antisemitism "very seriously" while arguing some of the posts had been "completely twisted out of their meaning". Sir Keir Starmer has been criticised for saying he was "delighted" by Fattah's arrival in the UK on Friday, three months after he was freed from prison in Egypt, but it is understood he was unaware of the historical messages. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage both said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood should look at whether Fattah's citizenship could be revoked to enable his swift removal from the UK. Farage said in a letter to Mahmood: "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,"The Foreign Office said it had been "a long-standing priority under successive governments" to work for Abdel Fattah's release and see him reunited with his family in the UK, but condemned his posts as "abhorrent". The 44-year-old was convicted in 2021 of "spreading fake news" in Egypt for sharing a Facebook post about torture in the country following a trial that human rights groups said was grossly unfair. He was granted citizenship in December 2021 through his London-born mother - when the Conservatives were in power and Dame Priti Patel was home secretary.
