Belgium arrests Egyptian activist who locked embassy in The Hague

Belgian authorities detained Egyptian activist Anas Habib and his brother, Tarek Habib, in Brussels during Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s visit earlier this week, Egyptian media reported.

The reports said the arrests were over allegations that Habib had been surveilling and threatening Sisi during his visit to the EU-Egypt Summit.

The activist drew attention in July when he chained shut the gates of Egypt’s embassy in the Netherlands to protest Cairo's closure of its border with Gaza amid Israel’s genocide in the besieged territory.

Habib filmed himself attaching a bicycle lock around the gates of the embassy in The Hague, describing the act as a symbol of the Egyptian government’s claim that the crossing with Gaza had been closed by Israel and that it was powerless to reopen it. 

He went on to do the same act at the Jordanian embassy in response to the kingdom’s response to Israel’s war.

In an interview with Middle East Eye at the time, Habib said: “I know for 100 percent sure that the Egyptian regime is complicit in the genocide.”

“This is just not an accusation; it's a fact.”

At the age of 15, Habib was detained by Egyptian authorities for two years as a political prisoner. He said that if he were to return there now, he would be arrested or killed. 

Cairo has said that incidents targeting its embassies in Europe are “malicious and suspicious actions” intended to distract international attention from “Israeli crimes in Gaza”.

Egyptian reports said on Thursday that Belgian authorities took the brothers from their hotel on Wednesday morning and seized their phones as part of the investigation.

They added that Belgium was working with Egyptian authorities to assess the alleged threats and investigate any potential plots. 

On Wednesday, the EU and Egypt held their first joint summit, signing several loan deals, including one worth another €4bn ($4.6bn) in European aid for Cairo.