Ex-Egyptian premier Ahmed Shafiq debarred from leaving United Arab Emirates

Egyptian ex-premier Ahmed Shafiq on Thursday said the United Arab Emirates had barred him from leaving the country, only hours after an announcement he would run for president in his homeland next year.

"I was surprised that I was banned from leaving the brotherly nation of the United Arab Emirates, for reasons I do not understand," Shafiq said in a video message sent to AFP.

"I was intending to carry out a tour among the Egyptian



diaspora before returning to my country in the next few days," said the former prime minister.

Shafiq's candidacy would see him stand against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in 2018.

While thanking the UAE for hosting him, Shafiq said: "I reject this interference in the internal affairs of my country".

But he promised Egyptians he would not back down from his pledge to take part in the presidential election.