Head: Police release 120 Brotherhood activists
CAIRO: Police on Wednesday freed 120 students arrested for belonging to the Islamist opposition Muslim Brotherhood organization and referred 30 others to the prosecutor, a security official said. The Brotherhood, which forms the largest opposition bloc in parliament, confirmed the releases on its Web site (www.ikhwanoline.com), adding all 150 students from the southern town of Assiut had been arrested in the past few days. Brotherhood officials have said the government is arresting its supporters throughout the country in response to the group s campaign to end Egypt s emergency laws. Opposition groups say the emergency laws, in force since 1981, have been used to curb political activities. The government says they are used to fight terrorism and narcotics. The ruling party has promised to replace the law with anti-terrorism legislation. Activists from the Brotherhood, which got round an official ban by running parliamentary candidates as independents, have held demonstrations in recent days at universities in the Nile Delta to protest at the arrests. The authorities refuse to grant the Brotherhood legal recognition as a political party on the grounds that the constitution bans parties based on religion. Reuters
