Egyptian authorities have arrested 13 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood around the country, a security official said on Sunday.
Nine members of the banned group were arrested on Sunday in the Nile Delta town of Abu Hammad in Sharqiya province ”for trying to organise a speech at a mosque after prayers”, the official said.
Two others were detained in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria on Saturday and another two in the Nile Delta city of Menufiya on the same day, all accused of ”belonging to an illegal organisation”.
The Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned although its members are openly politically active.
The group controls one fifth of seats in Parliament where its members sit as ”independents” because of their banned status.
In 2006 the government launched an intense crackdown on the group, targeting particularly its financing arm by arresting dozens of businessmen associated with the group.
Last month an Egyptian military court jailed 25 Muslim Brotherhood members, including the group’s number three, for up to 10 years for financing a banned organisation. – Sapa-AFP