A senior Egyptian diplomat has dismissed as “ludicrous” stories that his nation’s police have been conducting surveillance of individuals at this 12 months’s UN local weather talks in Sharm El-Sheikh.

The United Nations mentioned on Sunday that it was investigating allegations of misconduct by Egyptian cops who have been a part of the power offering safety to the worldwide physique on the venue.

Germany had raised issues after attendees at occasions hosted by the nation have been photographed and filmed.

But Wael Aboulmagd, a veteran diplomat who heads the Egyptian delegation, mentioned he had not obtained any direct complaints from Germany.

“I’ve seen reports in the media,” he informed reporters.

“They’re rather vague, imprecise, inaccurate.”

Germany’s Foreign Ministry mentioned on Saturday that it was in touch with Egyptian authorities concerning the incidents at its pavilion.

“It seems ludicrous because that’s an open event,” Mr Aboulmagd mentioned, referring to a panel final week on the German pavilion at which the sister of a jailed Egyptian pro-democracy activist, Alaa Abdel-Fattah, spoke.

“Why would any untoward surveillance exist in an open event?”

He advised the difficulty was being raised to divert consideration from the substantive matters being mentioned on the local weather talks.

“We’re tired of these apparently intentional distractions from climate issues, excessive focus on unfounded allegations,” mentioned Mr Abouldmagd.

The United Nations has confirmed that a few of the safety officers working within the a part of the venue designated as United Nations territory come from the host nation Egypt, citing the “scale and complexity of providing security at a large scale event” such because the Cop27 local weather talks.

It mentioned that UN safety “has been made aware of allegations of the Code of Conduct violations and is investigating these reports”.

Egypt’s internet hosting of the worldwide summit has skilled a highlight on its human rights report.

The authorities has engaged in a widespread crackdown on dissent in recent times, detaining some 60,000 folks, many with out trial, in keeping with a 2019 tally by Human Rights Watch.