FILE PHOTO: Former Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq addresses a news conference in Cairo June 3, 2012. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

DUBAI (Reuters) - Former Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, who told Reuters on Wednesday he intended to run in the presidential election early next year, told pan-Arab TV channel Al Jazeera that the United Arab Emirates had barred him from traveling.

Shafiq, an ex-air force commander and presidential candidate, said earlier he had planned to return to Cairo in the coming days from his current location in the UAE, a close ally of Egypt.

UAE officials could not be immediately reached for comment.