Egypt is feeling a bit uneasy right now, I would guess. They have had bedlam at the border with the palestinian misfits, they've had to arrest al Qaeda in Gaza members who snuck into Egypt and now, in a fairly bold move, the Egyptians have arrested 40 members of the The Muslim Brotherhood.
Egypt has been nervous about provinicial elections for quite some time because the Muslim Brotherhood backed candidates have been gaining traction and although the Muslim Brotherhood is outlawed in Eqypt, elected officials with ties to them are becoming more prevalent.
It's got to be obvious to Mubarek's government that Egypt is in the crosshairs of the jihadists. And that is why, I feel, the Egyptian security forces embarked on this arrest spree. At the same time, I doubt that Mubarek will be able to hold off the siege in the long run...especially with the increased volatility at their border to the north.
Here's the full story.
Egypt has been nervous about provinicial elections for quite some time because the Muslim Brotherhood backed candidates have been gaining traction and although the Muslim Brotherhood is outlawed in Eqypt, elected officials with ties to them are becoming more prevalent.
It's got to be obvious to Mubarek's government that Egypt is in the crosshairs of the jihadists. And that is why, I feel, the Egyptian security forces embarked on this arrest spree. At the same time, I doubt that Mubarek will be able to hold off the siege in the long run...especially with the increased volatility at their border to the north.
Here's the full story.
Egypt arrests 40 members of Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood
CAIRO, Egypt - Egyptian policet have arrested 40 members of the country's largest opposition movement, the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
The dawn arrests in three provinces were the latest in an ongoing crackdown on the Brotherhood.
A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed today's arrests, while the group's official website said it expected more arrests in the coming hours.
The new arrests were believed to be potential candidates in the upcoming provincial council elections.
Earlier Sunday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced that those elections would take place on April 8, Egypt's official news agency, MENA, quoted him as saying.
The Brotherhood, founded in 1928 but officially banned since in 1954, is Egypt's largest opposition group, holding more than a fifth of the seats in parliament's 454-member lower house.
The group had stunned the government by scoring the large victories in the 2005 parliament elections, and as a result, Mubarak issued a decree two years ago delaying the provincial elections, which were supposed to be held in April 2006.
The 4,500 local councils are responsible for services at a district, town and village level and are critical institutions of centralized state control.
In late January, Egyptian police arrested at least 460 Muslim Brotherhood members, including leading figures, in an attempt to thwart a demonstration in protest of Israel's blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
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