Al Jazeera Journalist Detained in Germany

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/world/middleeast/al-jazeera-journalist-detained-in-germany.html

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CAIRO — A prominent Al Jazeera journalist was detained Saturday in Germany over an Egyptian arrest warrant, the latest in a series of legal entanglements between Egypt and Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera, which is based in Qatar, reported the detention. The journalist, Ahmed Mansour, who works for the broadcaster’s Arabic service, was detained while trying to board a Qatar Airways flight at Berlin’s Tegel airport heading to Doha, Qatar, the station reported. It said he previously had been sentenced in absentia in Egypt to 15 years in prison in connection with accusations that he tortured a lawyer in Tahrir Square in 2011, a charge both he and the channel rejected.

While not identifying Mr. Mansour by name, a German police spokesman, Meik Grauer, said that the authorities detained a 52-year-old Egyptian-British journalist and that prosecutors would look into the arrest warrant on Sunday.

In October, Al Jazeera said Interpol had rejected an Egyptian request to put out a “red notice” for Mr. Mansour’s arrest. An Al Jazeera spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment on Saturday night.

In a Facebook post on Saturday night, Mr. Mansour said he had showed German authorities an email from Interpol saying he was not wanted by them.

Egypt and Qatar have had tense relations since 2013, when the Egyptian military ousted President Mohamed Morsi. Qatar is a strong backer of Mr. Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt accuses Al Jazeera of being a mouthpiece for Mr. Morsi’s supporters, charges denied by the broadcaster. In December 2013, Egyptian security forces arrested three Al Jazeera journalists, who were convicted of being part of a terrorist group and broadcasting falsified footage intended to damage national security.