FJP leader banned from travel

Egypt's airport authorities banned Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) figure Mohamed Ali Beshr from traveling on Thursday, he told the state-run Al-Ahram portal. 

Beshr — who served as minister of local development under deposed President Mohamed Morsi — was on his way to Dubai, where he was to take part in an international arbitration as a jurist, when he was halted by authorities.

Beshr told Al-Ahram that he was surprised by the decision, and that the authorities didn’t provide him with any reasons why he couldn’t travel.

"I have no comment. They told I am banned from traveling, so I respected the decision and went back home. I don't know the reasons," he said. 

Beshr is one of only a handful of leaders from the Muslim Brotherhood or its political arm, the FJP, who is not currently behind bars. Hundreds of the group’s leaders and members have been arrested in the aftermath of Morsi’s ouster.

In an interview with Mada Masr, FJP leader Amr Darrag conjectured that he and Beshr had not yet been arrested because they were involved in public diplomacy.

"Maybe we've been looked at as good communicators. We have good relations with everybody, so maybe it's useful for us to be free to communicate," Darrag speculated.