Abu Omar‘s wife and her son were banned by State Security from traveling to Italy Friday early morning.
Nabila Ghali, 38, and 14-year-old Italian-born Muhammad Abdel Hakim were due to leave Alexandria today on a 4am flight to Milan via Athens, using their Egyptian passports.
“I’ve been trying to get permission from State Security for the past two weeks, without much success,” Abu Omar told me. “I called them up myself, and asked (lawyer) Montasser (el-Zayat) and Islamist leaders to intervene also on my behalf. Finally State Security Major Faisal in Alexandria, who is one of the officers assigned my case, told me it was OK, and that Om Muhammad can leave from the Nozha airport.”
When they arrived at the airport, however, Nabila and Muhammad were banned from traveling by State Security agents, who denied receiving permission form the bureau, either in Cairo or Alexandria.