CAIRO: Security forces on Saturday detained Magdy Ahmed Hussein, secretary general of the Labor Party, for allegedly entering Gaza illegally.
Magdi El-Kurkur, a member of the Labor Party, said Hussein was arrested as he attempted to cross back into Egypt through the Rafah border Saturday, with no source of identification except a driver’s license.
Hussein reportedly entered Gaza illegally through a tunnel in Rafah, and, according to El-Kurkur, is currently being held at a military police station in Al-Arish.
Speaking to Daily News Egypt, Naglaa El-Kalyubi, Hussein’s wife, said, “He believed it is important that they [Egypt] open the Rafah border to support the Palestinians.
He was there “to support the resistance, she said, and to “provide aid to the Palestinians.
Hussein has been an outspoken supporter of the Palestinian resistance for years. On an Al Jazeera program four years ago, he denounced Egypt’s “passivity and the fact that it Israeli tourists into the country.
“The Israeli army kills in Palestine in the morning and then comes to relax and gamble in Taba [an Egyptian Red Sea resort], he said. “Abominations that are forbidden in Israel, such as gambling, are allowed. It is inconceivable that Egypt has become a resort for the Israeli army.
In May 2000, Egypt halted the Labor Party’s political activities due to alleged links with the banned-but-tolerated Muslim Brotherhood.
Authorities also froze publication of the Labor Party’s mouthpiece, El-Shaab, saying the party’s activities were a threat to national interests.
El-Kalyubi said she has been in contact with her husband and he is reportedly in good health.
Hussein’s arrest comes as Egypt intensifies efforts to curb arms smuggling via underground tunnels between Egypt and Gaza.
Egypt has installed surveillance cameras along its border with Gaza as part of efforts to curb arms smuggling into the Palestinian territory, an Egyptian security official said on Saturday.
“Alarms and surveillance cameras were installed last week along the 14-kilometer border to detect activity through smuggling tunnels, the official told AFP, declining to be named.
He said it was the first phase of a high-tech security system being installed with US assistance.
The United States has pledged $32 million in detection equipment to unearth smuggling tunnels, and US army engineers have been providing technical assistance on the ground, AFP reported.
The tunnels were primary targets of Israeli airstrikes during its 22-day offensive on Gaza. -Additional reporting by AFP.
