CAIRO, Jun 29 (Aswat Masriya) – The British-Lebanese TV host who was deported from Egypt on Monday said on her Twitter account on Tuesday that she will pursue legal and diplomatic efforts to return to the country.
In 15 tweets written in Arabic, Liline Daoud provided details about how she was forced to leave Cairo shortly after her contract with privately-owned network ONTV was terminated.
Daoud hosted TV programme "al-Soura al-Kamela" (the full picture) that was broadcast on ONTV.
She was married to Egyptian journalist Khaled Alberry for six years before their divorce. According to Alberry, the fact that she was his wife and the mother of an Egyptian girl, grants her legal right of residence in Egypt.
In her tweets, Daoud explained that she had been working in Egypt for five years until her contract with the ONTV administration was terminated.
"Almost an hour after the termination of the contract, eight security personnel arrived without any official papers," Daoud said, "They asked for my British passport and acted rudely in front of my [11-year-old] daughter and ex-husband."
The scene shortly escalated into shouting and threats from one of the police officers that he would take Daoud "with or without" her consent, as Daoud describes.
"I requested the prosecution order and I told them that I have custody rights over an Egyptian child and hold rights as a tax payer and a British citizen, but to no avail," Daoud explained.
According to her statements and Alberry’s, Daoud was denied access to her lawyer as well as the embassy.
The renowned TV host eventually agreed to accompany the police officers after she sensed that the situation was escalating towards violence.
When Daoud reiterated her right to a lawyer and to contact her embassy, the response was, "we have orders from a sovereign entity that your residency has expired and must be deported and we are only following the orders."
"As we purchased the plane ticket, the police officers were nice and treated me with respect, but the respect that was truly needed was granting me my rights to check on my daughter," Daoud recounted.
Daoud added that she has arrived safely in Beirut, reaffirming that she will exhaust all diplomatic and legal measures in order to return to Egypt.
In addition to 15 Arabic tweets, she also recounted how she was deported in nine, briefer tweets in English.
ONTV is currently owned by a media company that belongs to businessman Ahmed Abu Hashima.
It was previously owned by renowned business tycoon Naguib Sawiris who sold it to Abu Hashima
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