Egypt orders arrest of MB leaders

Egypt orders arrest of MB leaders
Thu Jul 25, 2013 12:59:43

Egypt's public prosecutor has ordered the arrest of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and eight senior members of the Islamist movement in a probe over accusations of inciting violence.

General prosecutor Hisham Barakat ordered the leaders' arrests on Wednesday for "ordering armed groups to cut off highways and threaten violence in the city of Qalyub, spreading violence and damaging public interest," the MENA news agency reported.

Badie has been detained for questioning and later released at least once since the army deposed president Mohamed Mursi on July 3.

The warrants come two weeks after Egyptian prosecutors called for the arrest of Badie, perhaps because of recent calls for an "uprising" by the Muslim Brotherhood, following the killings of more than 40 protestors outside the facility where Morsi is being held.

Earlier Wednesday, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, the head of Egypt's military, also called for mass demonstrations Friday to support the country's armed forces.

The call comes in response Muslim Brotherhood calls for mass protests of its own and lingering tensions nationwide spurred by the July 3 military coup that deposed Morsi.

The official Facebook page of Tamarod, the anti-Morsi protest movement, called on its supporters to heed the armed forces' call for protests, according to CNN.

"We call on all the Egyptian people to gather in all the squares next Friday to call for the trial of Mohammed Morsi, support the Egyptian armed forces in the coming war against terrorism and cleansing the land of Egypt. The army and the people will fight terrorism," the statement said.

NJF/NJF

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