MP QUITS OVER NOSE JOB SCANDAL

RESIGNED...Anwar al-Balkimy has resigned from the radical Al-Nour party and from parliament.

AN EGYPTIAN Islamist MP has resigned from the radical Al-Nour party and from parliament after claiming he had been attacked by gunmen to cover up for plastic surgery to his nose, the party says.

With his faced wrapped in bandages, MP Anwar al-Balkimy recently told reporters he was attacked last month on the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway by masked armed men, who stole 100,000 Egyptian pounds (RM50,176) from him.

However, hospital officials quickly denied his claims and said he had undergone plastic surgery on his nose.

The head of Al-Nour Party, Emad Abdul-Ghafour, visited al-Balkimy in hospital to investigate the incident.

With his faced wrapped in bandages, MP Anwar al-Balkimy recently told reporters he was attacked last month on the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway by masked armed men

With his faced wrapped in bandages, MP Anwar al-Balkimy recently told reporters he was attacked last month on the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway by masked armed men

It emerged that his claims were not true, while the doctors' statement was confirmed, the party said.

"Al-Balkimy presented a formal apology to the hospital's doctors, members of parliament, media and security institutions. He also resigned from the party and parliament," Al-Nour Party said.

The statement came after al-Balkimy's fellow MPs requested that the interior minister be questioned over the attack on their colleague.

Plastic surgery is considered forbidden by ultra-conservative Salafists, who adhere to a strict interpretation of Islam. (DPA)