In a press release, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) decried "serious violations of basic human rights of U.S. journalist Charles Levison - a Cairo Times reporter who was on leave in Washington - upon his return to Cairo".

Levison was denied entry to Egypt, exposed to detention and interrogation for a long time at Cairo Airport by state security personnel before being forced to return to the U.S., according to the press release, a copy of which was sent to IslamOnline.net Thursday.

"After spending three weeks in the States, I returned to Egypt January 28, 2004. At the Passports Dept., Cairo airport, my passport was withdrawn, I was detained for no reason at all. I could not even contact any one to tell them where I was," Levison was quoted in the release as saying.

"At 1 a.m. that night, a police officer told me I was on list of persons not allowed to enter the country, adding I had to return to the States on Egyptian or British Airlines. I decided to return to New York on board BA. The Egyptian officer accompanied me to the plane," he added.

Levison asserted that he insisted on meeting any state security official to know why he was detained but his attempts fell on deaf ears.

Reporters Without Borders called on the Egyptian authorities to reverse the decision and allow the journalist to return to Cairo where he had worked for more than a year.

Cairo Times' publisher, Hisham Kassem said he was told by the head of the state intelligence services that Levinson was considered to pose a "threat" to state security.

"His explanation about the expulsion of Charles Levision is unacceptable," he told the international press freedom organization.

This was the second time Levison was detained by state security in Cairo Airport.

He had been held for four hours by security forces at Cairo airport in December 2003 when he returned from Istanbul after covering the bombing of the British Consulate and the British HSBC Bank for the San Francisco Chronicle.

While in Turkey, the American journalist wrote two articles for U.S. dailies based on an Amnesty International report that exposed the use of torture in Egyptian prisons and reported on the deaths in custody of activists of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Cairo Times is an English-language Egyptian newspaper, that was founded in 1997 and is published under a foreign permit, since a national permit would be virtually impossible to obtain.

The EOHR emphasized, in its press release, that the detention and expulsion of Levison is a flagrant violation of a dozen of rights stamped in the Egyptian Constitution and international charts for human rights.

The release cited article 13 of International Chart related to civil and political rights for 1966 - ratified by Egypt - that secures the right to freedom of travel and movement. This article states that "no foreigner residing legally in a country - signatory to this Chart - should be expelled unless under a legal decision".

After citing other articles guaranteeing freedom of expression and free press, the organization demanded the Egyptian authorities agree to the swift return of the Cairo Times reporter to Egypt to carry out his duties. It also demanded holding those who expelled him accountable for their deeds.

The organization further demanded the cancellation of "Emergency Laws" that have - and still - constituted a major threat to general rights and freedoms.

"I informed state security about my trip two weeks earlier," Erian

The EOHR expressed its deepest worries over the "serious violation of Erian's civil and human rights". It further urged the Egyptian Minister of Interiors to interfere to lift Erian's name from the list of those banned from traveling.