Cairo: Egyptians, deported by Kuwaiti authorities last month for declaring support for the pro-reform campaigner Mohammad Al Baradei, are pushing for return to their jobs in the Gulf country, they said on Friday.
“Though I did my job well as a guard at a hotel, I was arrested by police on April 10 at a restaurant in Kuwait,” said Ahmad Salah. “They handcuffed and blindfolded me, leading me to an unknown location where I was kept in solitary confinement for three days without investigations or charges before I was deported to Egypt.” He denied having any political agenda. “All what I’m busy with is earning my living.”
Salah is one of 21 Egyptians deported by the Kuwaiti authorities who said they had violated local laws. Salah said he along with 12 other deportees had served a legal notice to the Kuwaiti Ambassador in Cairo Rashid Al Hamad demanding him to report to them about his government’s response to their demand to be allowed back to work within 10 days.
No official was immediately available for comment at the Kuwaiti embassy on Friday.
“What happened is that a group of Egyptians tried to gather for a political meeting without permission. So they were arrested under the Kuwaiti law, which bans such unlicensed gatherings,” said the Kuwaiti Ambassador in Cairo said in remarks last month. “This law applies to Kuwaitis and expatriates alike,” he added.
“All deportees were not probed in Kuwait and no court rulings were issued against them,” said Zyad Al Eleemi, a lawyer for the deportees. He declined to disclose his next step.
Since his return to Egypt on February 19, Al Baradei, the former chief of the UN nuclear watchdog, has been leading a high-profile campaign to push for drastic constitutional changes. Al Baradei, 67, has said he considers running for president next year, but conditioned his bid on getting guarantees that the election will be fair and free.
President Hosni Mubarak, who has been ruling Egypt for nearly 30, has yet to say if he will seek a sixth term.
