CAIRO: Nine members of the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested on Tuesday as thousands of Islamists held widespread protests against a crackdown by the authorities, security sources said. In Tanta, four were arrested after more than 700 Brotherhood supporters clashed with police, a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.He said five people were injured in all.Five more were detained in Qalyubiya while they were putting up posters for a Brotherhood candidate standing in April 8 municipal elections, he added. Nearly 3,000 members of the organization protested in Zagazig, 2,000 demonstrated in Alexandria, and 1,500 marched at Damanhur in the Nile Delta. Thousands of the group s candidates were prevented from registering for local council elections set for April 8. Later the group won law suits reversing these decisions but the government has refused to implement the verdicts.The authorities have intensified their crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood in the months ahead of the election, arresting several hundred members. The New York-based group Human Rights Watch has slammed the roundup as shameless and cast serious doubt on the election s legitimacy.
It said the arrests, combined with ongoing military trials of Islamists, are part of a bid by President Hosni Mubarak and his ruling National Democratic Party to fix the elections.
Muslim Brotherhood leaders have said their candidates would contest the elections from jail if necessary. -AFP
