CAIRO: Egyptian police arrested a member of the Muslim Brotherhood standing in next week s parliamentary elections, the banned Islamist opposition group and a security official said on Tuesday.
Police detained Koleib El-Desouky on Monday night while he was campaigning in the Nile Delta city of Tanta, one security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt s largest opposition group, said in a statement that El-Desouky was arrested along with two of his supporters. This comes a week before the elections to the upper house of parliament, the Shoura Council, are to be held. More than 10 people were also arrested on Monday, the group said. Police have arrested hundreds of Brotherhood loyalists ahead of the June 11 polls.
The Brotherhood operates openly despite being banned since 1954. Members stand for elections as independents and won nearly one fifth of the seats in the influential lower house of parliament in 2005.
Analysts say authorities want to stop the group before it makes more electoral gains that would help it mount a serious challenge to the rule of President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981.
Egyptians have largely ignored the Shoura Council elections in the past. But the next ballot is the first since changes to the constitution gave the house some legislative powers.
The amendments, passed in March, include a ban on political activity based on religion, an article which analysts and human rights groups say targets the Brotherhood. The group has registered 19 candidates for next week s elections, campaigning under the slogan Islam is the solution.
