CAIRO: A Dutch parliamentary delegation canceled their visit to Cairo after MP Raymond de Roon was denied a visa by the Egyptian government for saying that Egypt is practicing “ethnic cleansing of its Christian minority.” The Dutch lawmaker from the nationalist Freedom Party also said that “the murder” of Coptic Christians was “silent genocide.” The 8 member delegation was scheduled to arrive in Cairo on Wednesday for a week of work. De Roon belongs to the anti-Islam PVV right-wing party in the Netherlands. Egypt's foreign ministry spokesman Amr Roshdi said on Thursday that “Mr. De Roon recently told the Dutch parliament that Egypt practiced ethnic cleansing, describing its government as a dictatorship. These statements constitute incitement of racism, punished by national and international law and a legal foundation sufficient not to grant him a visa.” “In addition to the stances of the extremist, anti-Islam party to which this lawmaker belongs, his recent statements, in which he claimed Egypt is practicing ethnic cleansing and is a dictatorship are racial incitement,” Roshdi added. Geert Wilders, the PVV party leader described Cairo's visa refusal as a “scandal.” “It shows the new Egyptian regime is as barbaric as the previous one,” he added. BM
