CAIRO: Security forces on Monday arrested 39 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the main opposition group in Egypt, while they were on holiday in the Nile Delta, a security official said.
Thirty-nine Muslim Brothers were arrested while on holiday in Kafr Al-Sheikh, the official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
The Muslim Brotherhood website said three of those arrested were local leaders of the group.
The men are accused of propagating the Brothers ideology after being found in possession of Islamist literature which is banned in Egypt, the official said.
Dozens of Islamists were rounded up in the same area earlier this month during a by-election. The vote was won by the ruling National Democratic Party.
The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928, was officially banned in Egypt in 1954 but is relatively tolerated. It holds one fifth of seats in parliament, won in polls three years ago when its candidates stood as independents. – AFP
