Morsi-backing Yemeni Nobel Laureate banned from entering Egypt over 'security reasons'

Egypt has banned a Yemeni rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner from entering the country for 'security reasons'.

Tawakkol Karman was held at the Cairo airport on arrival and ordered to return to Yemen in the next flight.

According to the Huffington Post, Karman, the first Arab woman to win the Nobel peace prize, has voiced support for loyalists of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

She has described Morsi's ouster by the military in July as 'undemocratic'.

Morsi supporters said that Karman had been due to make an appearance at a Cairo sit-in where backers of Morsi have rallied for more than a month.

The report said that the Anti-Coup Alliance said Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei is to be held responsible for banning activists and Nobel Prize winners from entering Egypt.

Karman was a leading figure during the 2011 youth uprising in Yemen that eventually forced out veteran president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the report added.