21 Muslim Brotherhood members arrested in Egypt

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

CAIRO (AFP) — Twenty-one members of Egypt's main opposition Muslim Brotherhood were arrested on Thursday in the Nile Delta for holding an illegal meeting at a former MP's home, a security official said.

"The 21 men were detained in Sharqiya province at the home of a former MP and group leader," the official said, requesting anonymity.

They are accused of holding an illegal meeting and spreading the Brotherhood's ideology, having been found in possession of Brotherhood tracts.

Created in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood was officially banned in Egypt in 1954 but is relatively tolerated. It has one-fifth of the seats in parliament, won in an election in 2005 with candidates standing as "independents."

In July, dozens of Islamists were rounded up in the...