Two Canadians free to leave, Egypt says
RED TAPE: Names taken off travel ban list by officials
TORONTO — Egypt’s foreign ministry said Thursday a travel ban has been lifted for two Canadians who were barred from leaving Egypt following several weeks of imprisonment without charge.
Badr Abdel-Atty, Egypt’s foreign ministry spokesman, said the pair has been cleared to leave Egypt “within hours.”
“The prosecutor general has informed us that they are free to leave the country after the accusations against them were dropped,” Abdel-Atty told The Associated Press.
He said instructions have been conveyed to ports and the interior ministry to remove their names from the list of people banned from leaving the country.
John Greyson, a Toronto filmmaker and professor, and Tarek Loubani, a physician from London, Ont., had checked in for a flight to Frankfurt, Germany, last weekend. They were prevented from boarding after their names appeared on a “stop-list” issued by Egyptian prosecutors. The pair had just been released after being held without charges since Aug. 15, when they were arrested while observing a pro-Morsi demonstration in Cairo in which the Canadians said they saw at least 50 protesters killed.
The pair released a statement from prison last month saying they were beaten and subjected to degrading treatment in the Egyptian prison.
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