Egypt police detain German pro-Palestinian blogger

Egyptian security detained an Egyptian-German student pro-Palestinian blogger who helped organise a demonstration in support of the Gaza Strip, his family and a rights group said.

Egyptian security detained an Egyptian-German student pro-Palestinian blogger who helped organise a demonstration in support of the Gaza Strip, his family and a rights group said on Sunday.

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Philip Rizk, a 26-year-old postgraduate student in Cairo, was detained on Friday in Qalubia, north of Cairo, where he and other activists had organised a protest in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, his sister Jeanette told AFP.

"He is still detained, and we have not heard from him directly," she said.

Nadim, an Egyptian rights group, said in a statement that Rizk was taken away in a car with concealed licence plates to an unknown destination.

The rights group "condemns this barbaric, Mafia-style treatment of citizens," the statement said.

A security source confirmed the blogger had been detained. "The members of the group were detained in Qalubia and most were released soon after. Rizk was kept in detention," he said.

A German embassy official told AFP: "We can confirm we know about it," but declined to provide further details.