Egypt says citizens free to join fight in Syria

Egyptian president's adviser for foreign affairs says Egyptians fighting in Syria pose no national security threat to Egypt

A senior official in Egypt's presidential office said that Egyptians are free to fight in the conflict in Syria, and will not be prosecuted on their return to Egypt.
In a response to an Associated Press question Thursday about the government's stance on citizens going to fight alongside Syrian rebels, Khaled El-Qazzaz said that "the right of travel or freedom of travel is open for all Egyptians."
He said that after the 2011 uprising, the government no longer punishes Egyptians for what they do in other countries.
El-Qazzaz, a foreign affairs adviser to Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, said the presidency does not consider Egyptian nationals in Syria to be a threat to Egypt's security.
His comments come just days after influential Egyptian cleric Yusuf El-Qaradawi urged Sunni Muslims everywhere to join the fight against Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, who is a member of the Alawite branch of Islam.
On Saturday Morsi will attend a conference on Syria in the International Conference Centre in Cairo's Nasr City, the Muslim Brotherhood announced on Wednesday.
The conference is part of a Syria solidarity week organised by the Muslim Brotherhood and will include other influential figures such as El-Qaradawi and Saudi sheikh Mohamed Al-Arifi. The conference is scheduled to start on Thursday 13 June.
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