CAIRO: Thirteen members of the Muslim Brotherhood were detained Monday, a security source said, in a continued clampdown which the group says is aimed at preventing members from running in municipal elections.
“Security forces have arrested 13 members of the group including teachers, accountants and students while they were holding a meeting in Sohag, the source said. The meeting was to prepare for the April 2008 municipal elections, the source said.
Traditionally controlled by the ruling National Democratic Party, the municipal polls are now expected to draw fierce competition after the 2005 constitutional amendment.
The amendment requires independent presidential candidates to also secure the backing of municipal council members.
It stipulates that candidates who do not belong to an official party must gather signatures from 250 elected officials, including 65 from parliament’s lower house, 25 from the upper house and from 10 municipal council members.
The arrests are “a sign that this regime fears a repetition of the success enjoyed (by the Brotherhood) in the last parliamentary elections, the group’s deputy supreme guide, Mohamed Habib, said on its website.
The next municipal council elections are to be held in April after a two-year postponement that drew fierce objections from opposition members. “They cannot postpone the elections again, so the regime will use its security arm to arrest MB members to prevent them from participating in political life, Habib said. -AFP
