The consular department of the Foreign Ministry expressed their surprise at the allegations made by American researcher Michele Dunne regarding her entry to Egypt, in a statement released on Sunday.

The statement questioned the validity of Dunne’s visa for purposes other than tourism, and the United States’ stance regarding foreigners who attempt to leave their homeland without valid visas from one of their embassies abroad.

According to the consular department, Dunne applied for a visa in the Egyptian Embassy in Washington and applied for a visa for purposes other than tourism, where she was requested to proceed with filling other applications and documents. Dunne then withdrew her passport and travelled to Egypt without completing the required applications.

The former US diplomat was barred entry to Egypt at Cairo International Airport late Friday night, after arriving to speak at a conference of the Egyptian Council of Foreign Affairs.

News of Michele Dunne’s detention and deportation broke via the Twitter accounts of NGO colleagues throughout the night. Dunne, now a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, confirmed via the social networking site the news, and that she had subsequently travelled to Frankfurt following her barred entry.