CAIRO: Sinai stringer and Tagammu party member Khalil Jabr Sawarka was briefly detained Thursday by State Security in the town of Sheikh Zowayed while accompanying a foreign delegation attempting to enter Gaza.
Sawarka was with members of the International Movement to open the Rafah Crossing (IMORB) in Sheikh Zowayed, 10 km from Rafah, because they had been turned back at the Abu Taweela checkpoint as they attempted to head to the border.
At that point Sawarka was approached by a low ranking policeman who told him that a State Security officer wanted to speak to him. “They told me they wanted me, I refused to go but they took me, Sawarka told Daily News Egypt. Sawarka was kept at the State Security headquarters in Sheikh Zowayed for half an hour during which he was questioned.
“They wanted cooperation to find out the movements of the delegation, he said, “I was with the delegation as a translator.
The delegation, which has been at the crossing since Tuesday, was prohibited to continue towards the crossing while coming from Al-Arish, US member Don Bryant told Daily News Egypt Thursday.
The delegation decided to find another way to reach the border.
“A humanitarian crisis has been created in Gaza by the siege and the Israeli massacre in December and January, Bryant said in statement, “We were in Gaza three months ago and saw the extreme destruction in every village, refugee camp, and business district. Over 1,400 people were killed, 85 percent were civilians.
Forty-one MPs from the European Parliament entered Gaza via the Rafah crossing Tuesday morning. But the IMORB delegation, accompanied by Palestinians, were denied entry.
The MP delegation was headed by vice president of the European Parliament Luisa Morgantini and was due to visit sites of destruction in the strip as a result of the Israeli offensive last December. The delegation also monitored the humanitarian situation there.
