'Zionists are out to get me', says Egyptian activist as he claims his words calling British people 'dogs and monkeys' have been 'twisted'

The post that has been liked was a repost of another that claimed "Zionist" journalists and Jewish groups had been "among the most vocal critics" of him.

It comes after calls from Reform UK and the Conservatives for Mr El-Fattah to be stripped of his British citizenship, following the emergence of historic social media posts calling for Zionists to be "killed".

He has since apologised "unequivocally" for the comments, in which he said he understood "how shocking and hurtful" the posts were.

He said: "I am shaken that, just as I am being reunited with my family for the first time in 12 years, several historic tweets of mine have been republished and used to question and attack my integrity and values, escalating to calls for the revocation of my citizenship."

But his recent activity on social media suggests otherwise, with Shadow Home Secretary Robert Jenrick saying: "At the same time as el-Fattah is apologising ‘unequivocally’, over on Arabic Facebook he is liking posts claiming he’s just the victim of a ‘Zionist campaign’.

"Get this disgusting man out of our country now."

Mr El-Fattah claimed his social media posts, in which he described the killing of Zionists as heroic and described British people as "dogs and monkeys", had been "completely twisted out of their meaning".

Sir Keir Starmer said he was "delighted" with Mr El-Fattah's return to the UK on Boxing Day, following his pardon by Egyptian President Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

He had been imprisoned for five years on charges of spreading false news, in a process branded a breach of international law by UN investigators.

However, the Prime Minister has since condemned the social media posts as "absolutely abhorrent" and said the Government was "taking steps to review the information failures in this case".

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said she has asked a senior Foreign Office official to urgently review the "serious information failures" in the case of Mr El-Fattah.

"As Yvette Cooper sets out in her letter, the historic tweets by Alaa Abd El-Fattah are absolutely abhorrent," Sir Keir said.

"With the rise of antisemitism, and recent horrific attacks, I know this has added to the distress of many in the Jewish community in the UK. We are taking steps to review the information failures in this case."

Ms Cooper said that neither she nor Sir Keir were briefed on the social posts before the activist arrived in the country last week.

Ms Cooper said: "It is clear that this has been an unacceptable failure and that long standing procedures and due diligence arrangements have been completely inadequate for this situation, leading to the serious problem of successive foreign secretaries and Prime Ministers making public statements without all relevant information."

The Foreign Secretary added that she "very much regrets" the Government's public welcome for Mr El-Fattah, and it had "added to the distress felt by Jewish communities in the UK".

The Government claim, however, that Mr El-Fattah cannot be deported and stripped of his British citizenship, which was granted to him under the Conservative government in 2021, because he does not pose enough of a security risk.

Reform have since announced that it would change the law to ensure Mr El-Fattah could be stripped of his British citizenship and deported.

Leader Nigel Farage said that previous Tory and Labour governments had "opened our doors to evil people".

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