CAIRO: A Cairo court on Wednesday ordered two senior Egyptian Islamists, arrested during anti-government protests in May, to stay in jail for 15 more days, reversing a lower court ruling to free them, court sources said. Essam Al-Arian and Mohamed Mursi, both leading members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, were detained in May during protests to support judges demanding greater independence from the executive. A lower court on Monday ordered Erian, Mursi and five other Brotherhood members who were being held in administrative detention to be released, but prosecutors then appealed the decision, the sources said. The Muslim Brotherhood is one of the largest Islamist political movements in the Arab world. The Brotherhood is officially banned in Egypt, but usually tolerated. Members elected as independents won 88 seats in the country s 454-seat parliament in elections last year, making the Brotherhood the largest opposition group. The police regularly detain Brotherhood members, and several hundred of them are now in prison. Reuters
Court reverses move to free senior Islamists
