EGYPTIAN POLICE DETAIN MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD MEMBERS

Egyptian authorities detained 16 Muslim Brotherhood (MB) movement members in Beni Swait province and 12 others in Giza for being members of a banned group and possessing documents and leaflets against the regime. The 28 detainees were supporters of the MB’s candidates for the upcoming mid-term election of Shoora Council, the upper house of parliament, according to the MB. More than 120 MB members have been detained nationwide during the past few days. However, the group succeeded in fielding 19 candidates for Shoora Council elections.

The Shoora Council, a consultative body, is the upper-house of parliament with 264 seats, 88 of which are filled by direct presidential appointment. The Muslim Brotherhood had prepared earlier to field over 40 candidates but only the above number has managed to complete registration because of administrative complications and hurdles created in their way that sometimes include arbitrary detentions.

The Brotherhood is a popular group that has strong support among the grassroots and university students. In 2005 parliamentary elections, the group could get sweeping victory when they won 88 seats in Egypt’s lower-house of parliament, becoming the ruling National Democratic Party’s foremost opposition force. The Brotherhood uses the motto of "Islam is the Solution" in their political campaigns; a motto that Egypt’s liberal and anti-Islam circles continue to vehemently protest.