A senior official of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, left Egypt on Thursday with a large sum of money being stopped by the Egyptian authorities.

Ayman Taha, a member of a Hamas delegation for talks with Egyptian mediators on a ceasefire with Israel, returned to the Gaza Strip via the Rafah terminal at the Egyptian-Gaza border, the Egyptian MENA news agency reported.

Earlier in the day, Taha was prevented from returning to Gaza after the delegation was found at Rafah border crossing carrying some US$9 million and 2 million euros.

The sum of money was then deposited in an account at a branch of the National Bank of Egypt in Al-Arish, capital of Egypt's North Sinai governorate.

Taha was then allowed to enter into Gaza without the money, said MENA.

Earlier reports said the Egyptian border authorities had contacted the Egyptian Finance Ministry for instructions on the money.