Cairo, July 03: Egyptian security forces arrested eight members of the Muslim Brotherhood after searching their homes and confiscating their computers, data discs and books, a spokesman for the group said on Friday.
The arrested members had launched an online campaign called “Amal Al Omah” (The Nations’ Hopes) (http://www.amlalommah.net/) calling for the prosecution of the head of security in Alexandria for police violations, Hamdy Hassan, spokesman for the group’s parliamentary bloc, told Reuters.
“(Those arrested) are the ones heading the campaign calling for the prosecution of the head of security in Alexandria,” Hassan said, adding that 10 members headed the campaign, but two were not at their homes at the time.
The death of Khaled Said, 28, on June 6 in Alexandria, whom rights groups say died as a result of police brutality, has sparked public protests.
The opposition has used the incident to call for an end to emergency law which they say allows police to act with impunity and stifles dissent.
The daily al-Masry al-Youm earlier cited the Brotherhood’s lawyer, Khalaf Bayoumi, saying the arrests came after the group gathered 100,000 signatures calling for the prosecution of the head of security in Alexandria.
The official state news agency MENA said the eight members were arrested “for possessing publications containing ideas that could threaten national security”.
The Brotherhood, though banned, is widely seen as the only opposition group capable of mobilising thousands of supporters in protest against the government.
The government of President Hosni Mubarak, whose predecessor was gunned down by Islamic militants, is wary of any group with Islamist leanings, including the Brotherhood which long ago renounced violence and insists it seeks peaceful reform.
-Agencies