Egypt on 1 September deported three Al Jazeera journalists, days after the Qatar-owned channel carried appeals from leaders of ousted President Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood to stage protests against the army-backed government. The Gulf opposes the army’s overthrow of Morsi and the ensuing bloody crackdown on his movement.
Al Jazeera’s offices in Cairo have been closed since 3 July, when they were raided by security forces hours after Morsi was toppled, although the channel, broadcast from Qatar, can still be seen in Egypt. Security officials at Cairo airport, declining to be named, said Wayne Hay, Adil Bradlow and Russ Finn had been put on an Egyptian plane headed for London, after being forced to leave their equipment behind.