CAIRO: Egyptian authorities deported a rights campaigner hours after he flew in to deliver a petition against death sentences imposed on 529 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Wissam Tarif, a Lebanese citizen from international group Avaaz, was hoping to hand over the appeal at a meeting with the grand mufti.

Last month’s mass sentencing of the 529 members of the Brotherhood was widely criticized by rights organizations and Western governments.

Tarif said he flew into Cairo from Beirut on Tuesday with a Lebanese imam. “I landed at Cairo airport and I wasn’t allowed in. My name popped up on the computer and they took me to the deportation room where I was interrogated ...,” he added.

Tarif said he was barred from leaving the airport and authorities briefly seized his computer.