Egyptian authorities on Sunday banned Yemeni rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman from entering the country for "security reasons," airport officials told AFP.
Karman was held at Cairo airport on arrival and ordered to return on the flight back to Yemen, the officials said without providing further details.
The activist, who was a leading figure during the 2011 youth uprising in Yemen that eventually forced out veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh, is the first Arab woman to win the Nobel peace prize.
Karman has voiced support for loyalists of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and described his ouster by the military as undemocratic.
Karman was held at Cairo airport on arrival and ordered to return on the flight back to Yemen, the officials said without providing further details.
The activist, who was a leading figure during the 2011 youth uprising in Yemen that eventually forced out veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh, is the first Arab woman to win the Nobel peace prize.
Karman has voiced support for loyalists of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and described his ouster by the military as undemocratic.
