Bird that’s ruffling government feathers: Stork suspected of being a SPY detained by police in Egypt

Concerned man took the bird to a police station in the Qena governorate

Suspected the bird was an spy because it carried an electronic device

Experts said the device was neither an explosive nor a spying device and was likely a tracking device

Egyptian authorities have detained a bird that a citizen suspected of being a spy.

Officials say a man took the bird to a police station in the Qena governorate, some 280 miles southeast of Cairo, on Friday.



He suspected the bird was an undercover agent because it carried an electronic device.



A migrating stork is held in a police station after a citizen suspected it of being a spy and brought it to the authorities

The head of security in Qena confirmed that officials examined the bird and the device.



Mohammed Kamal said the device was neither an explosive nor a spying device. It is thought to have probably been a wildlife tracker.

Earlier this year, a security guard filed a police report after capturing a pigeon he said carried microfilm.

Officials say the man suspected the bird was an undercover agent because it carried an electronic device

With turmoil gripping Egypt, authorities and citizens remain suspicious of anything foreign.



The country has been in turmoil following the July 3 coup that toppled President Mohammad Morsi.

Clashes between Egyptian security forces and Morsi's supporters have killed hundreds of people.

'We do believe that the recent operations of the security forces have been disproportionate and we're worried about the resulting alarming number of people that have been killed,' said the EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Clashes between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi continue

Political turbulence has kept Egypt on edge for months. At least 900 people, including 100 soldiers and police, have been killed in a crackdown on Morsi supporters, making it the country's bloodiest internal episode in decades.