CAIRO: The Palestinian movement Hamas on Tuesday called on the Egyptian government to release a top intelligence official being detained in Egypt. Mohamed Dababish, the head of Hamas' internal general security, was arrested upon arrival at the Cairo International Airport last week and has been held while an investigation is undertaken. According to a Hamas statement, Dababish “did not carry out any action harming Egypt's security and its sovereignty,” Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said at a press conference. Dababish was arrested on September 13 on his way to Gaza after completing the minor pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Barhoum said. Barhoum and Hamas denied Egyptian media reports that Dababish was involved in smuggling communication equipment to Hamas through Egypt. Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram also said that Dababish has information about a shooting which happened in January, in which an Egyptian soldier was killed during clashes between Hamas protesters and Egyptian forces on the borders between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. The reports “were untrue,” Barhoum said, adding that Dababish's detention “is unjustified and considered an offense to the Palestinian-Egyptian ties and a belittlement of Hamas.” Relations between Hamas and Egypt have worsened since the Islamic movement refused to sign an Egyptian proposal for inter- Palestinian reconciliation last year. Hamas also accused Egypt of taking part in Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip by restricting movement of travelers through the Rafah crossing point between Gaza and Egypt. BM
