MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD SPOKESMAN ARRESTED
Cairo, 16 Syawal 1434/23 August 2013 (MINA) – Egyptian security forces arrested Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Ahmed Aref early Thursday.
“Security forces arrested Aref without any charge,” the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said in a statement.
The party added that Aref was detained because “coup leaders are afraid of any opposition”, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
A security source said that Aref was arrested in a flat in Nasr City in eastern Cairo, according to Egyptian television.
Aref’s wife said that her husband was taken from his house by security forces before dawn.
“Six security vehicles and 20 troops raided the house and searched everything but found nothing except the iPad which he uses to publish comments on current developments,” Aref’s wife, Eman, said via Facebook.
Ali Khafaja, the FJP youth secretary in Giza, described Aref’s detention as an “honor for Brotherhood youth.”
Egyptian security forces have cracked down on Muslim Brotherhood leaders since last week’s violent dispersal of two major protest camps set up by supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi.
Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie was arrested early Tuesday in a flat in Nasr City. FJP media adviser Mourad Ali was also arrested on Wednesday while trying to leave the country to Italy.
Aref is the latest senior Muslim Brotherhood figure to be taken into custody by Egypt’s army-backed interim government.
On August 20, the security forces detained about 100 members of the Muslim Brotherhood including its spiritual leader Mohamed Badie.
Speaking on the future of the Brotherhood after Badie’s arrest, Aref stated on his Facebook page that “the general guide is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and that any arrest among the leaders of the organization will not affect it, as the Brotherhood is a member of the National Coalition to Support Legitimacy that rejects the coup.”
“We reiterate that the issue is neither political nor related to a party, but a national one that was orchestrated and planned,” he added.
Egypt’s army-backed government has accused the Muslim Brotherhood of seeking to destabilize the country following the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi on July 3.
About 900 people, including nearly 100 soldiers and police, have been killed in clashes in the country since August 14, when security forces of the interim government launched a brutal crackdown on thousands of peaceful supporters of Morsi in Cairo. (T/P08/E1)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
