The Egyptian government challenged Sunday a court ruling demanding that the passport of head of Ghad el-Thawra party Ayman Nour be renewed, Youm7 reported.
On behalf of the Foreign Ministry, the State Lawsuits Authority (SLA) challenged the ruling by the Administrative Court obliging the ministry to renew Nour’s passport.
Nour, an opposition figure, had filed a lawsuit before the Administrative court against Egyptian ambassadors in Turkey and Lebanon for refusing to renew his passport, and also against the Interior Ministry and the prime ministers.
The SLA argues that an interior minister may withdraw a passport or refuse to renew or issue a travel document for security reasons. It adds that Nour may be granted a permit to return home without renewing his passport.
“Nour professes his hostility to Egypt,” the SLA said in its appeal, adding that he “travels the world to turn states against Egypt, confirming his lack of patriotism and sense of belonging to his country of birth.”
Nour, who left Egypt in August 2013, claimed in July that he would leave Lebanon to Turkey following death threats.
