A prominent Lebanese journalist who hosted a talk show on Egypt's private ONTV critical of the government of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi arrived in Beirut on Tuesday after authorities in Cairo briefly detained her and then deported her, her lawyer said.
Liliane Daoud could not immediately be reached for comment. Her lawyer, Zyad El-Elaimy, wrote on his Twitter account that her first comment after landing in Beirut was that she will challenge the decision to deport her.
There was no formal explanation for Daoud's deportation from Egypt. An Egyptian security official, speaking Monday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters, said Daoud's residency permit expired after her contract with the ONTV station was terminated.
El-Elaimy said eight men in plain-clothes had escorted Daoud from her home in a upscale suburb in Cairo, where she has lived for years, late on Monday, after she announced on her social media account that the network had ended her contract.
Her 10-year-old daughter was there when the men took Daoud away, allowing her no time to pick up luggage. She only called her family from the plane before it headed to Beirut, El-Elaimy said.
The decision to abruptly deport Douad shocked her colleagues and other public figures. Mohammed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and one of the Egyptian uprising's spiritual fathers who now lives in self-imposed exile, applauded Daoud for her professional reporting. "One day we may have enough self-confidence to understand the value of having different opinions," he said.
Daoud formerly worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation, and lived in London before moving to Egypt.

Source: Arab News