EGYPT ARRESTS SPOKESMAN OF OUSTED PRESIDENT MORSI

Cairo, 29 Shafar 1435/1 January 2013 (MINA) – Egyptian security forces on Tuesday arrested Yasser Ali, a former spokesman of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, on charges of violence and joining a “terrorist group”, a security source said.

According to the source, Ali was arrested in an apartment in the capital Cairo as he was preparing to “flee” Egypt to Sudan. Anadolu media reported as quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).

Ali, who served as the head of the Egyptian Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center, showed no resistance and was taken to the maximum-security Tora prison compound in southern Cairo, where he will be questioned for security reasons, the source said.

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Last week, the Egyptian government designated the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi hails, a “terrorist” group following a deadly bombing at a security headquarters in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, which killed 16 people, mostly policemen.

The attack was later claimed by the militant Ansar Bait al-Maqdis.

The arrest is not only experienced to Brotherhood leaders and members, but also experienced to some journalists accused of illegal meetings with the organization.

Egypt’s security forces have arrested four Al Jazeera journalists in Cairo on Sunday evening.

Correspondent Peter Greste, producers Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed as well as cameraman Mohamed Fawzy are being held in custody after arrested by security forces.

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Greste is a veteran journalist who previously worked for Reuters, CNN and the BBC over the past two decades. (T/P09/P04/E1).

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)