The United Kingdom closes the Cairo’s embassy when Egypt eliminates security barriers in the middle of the dispute over pro-palestinian protests

Cairo – The British embassy in Cairo said on Sunday that it had temporarily closed its main building after the Egyptian authorities eliminated the concrete security barriers from the entire outer perimeter of the complex. The barriers had been there for decades as a security measure.

“The main building of the embassy closes temporarily while we review the impact of the works carried out by the Egyptian authorities in the vicinity,” said a spokesman for Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom to News themezone in a statement on Monday, noting that the embassy remained in operation and only the main building was closed.

There were no official comments from the Egyptian government about the elimination of barriers outside the United Kingdom embassy, ​​but the measure occurred in the midst of intensive diplomatic tension between Egypt and several countries on protests aimed at the Egyptian missions abroad, even in the Netherlands, Austria, France, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States and Israel.

In recent months, Pro-Palestinian protesters have chained the doors of Egyptian embassies and consulate Gaza strip devastated by war.

Egyptian officials have said that his side of the Rafah’s crossing has remained open since Gaza’s war broke out almost two years ago, while the Israeli army controls the Palestinian side and how much help it is allowed to enter, and how many people are allowed.

The Egyptian authorities have argued that the protests are not random or peaceful, but rather organized against the country, and have accused European host governments not to protect their staff and diplomatic premises from vandalism.

Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty was heard in a video circulated online, suggesting that Egypt could take reciprocal measures, saying: “If their governments do not provide adequate security for our missions, then we should reconsider our own implementations.”

In some cases, activists who support the Egyptian government have taken the matter in their own hands and have gathered outside the embassies in European capitals, declaring that they were there to protect the facilities.

Most of these activists have identified themselves as members of the so -called “Union of Egyptian youth abroad.”

The self -written leader of that group, Ahmed Abdel Qader, was arrested in London last week by the British police. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty raised the case in a telephone call on August 26 with the National Security Advisor of the United Kingdom Jonathan Powell.

In a statement published online that day by the Egyptian government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was following its arrest “with great concern” and had requested an urgent clarification of the circumstances surrounding the arrest, emphasizing that Egypt expected its “rapid launch.”

Social networks videos show that the activist was released after being arrested, and charges were not announced. London Metropolitan Police told News themezone that he could not immediately offer any information about the circumstances of the detention of the Egyptian citizen or his subsequent launch.

In the midst of the dispute, a relatively new political party in Egypt, the National Party Front, issued a long statement that declared solidarity with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and condemning the detention of the activist in London.

“We will not protect those who do not protect us,” the party, which was founded in December, declared in his statement on August 26. He condemned the arrest of “one of the faithful children of Egypt” as a “shameless violation of justice, human rights and the rules of diplomatic relations.”

The party asked the Government to reconsider the privileges granted to British diplomatic missions in Cairo. He specifically pointed to the United Kingdom embassy in the neighborhood of Garden City Rico and very fortified, where the United States and other embassies are also found.

The party argued that the concrete barriers of the British installation and other security measures had turned the area into “a closed area” and interrupted the lives of the residents, and demanded that the barriers be eliminated.

Ciara Moran and Lindsay quella of News themezone in London contributed to this report.

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• Palestinians
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• United Kingdom