Prosecution orders arrest of leading Brotherhood members

Arrest warrants are issued for Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badei and other Islamist figures on charges of inciting deadly violence at Republican Guard protests

Egypt's general prosecution issues arrest warrants on Wednesday for the Muslim Brotherhood's Supreme Guide Mohamed Badei and nine Islamist figures, mostly Brotherhood members, accusing them of inciting violence at the Republican Guard headquarters.
Fifty-one people were killed and at least 435 injured when supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi clashed with the Armed Forces at the Republican Guard headquarters in Cairo on Monday.
The Egyptian army said one officer died and 42 soldiers were injured.
Along with Badei, the prosecution ordered the arrest of Brotherhood Deputy Guide Mahmoud Ezzat; leading Brotherhood member Mohamed El-Beltagy; the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) Vice Chairman Essam El-Erian; leading figure of ultraconservative Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya Assem Abd El-Maged and hardline Brotherhood supporter Safwat Hegazy.
In addition, arrest warrants were also issued for Wasat Party Vice Chairman Essam Sultan; Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya's Building and Development Party Vice Chairman Safwat Abd El-Ghany; Islamist activist Abd El-Rahman Ezz and a member of the Brotherhood's consultative council, Mahmoud Hussein.
The arrest warrants come as the prosecution carries out its investigations into Monday's violence.
The nine leading figures summoned are accused of "planning, inciting and aiding criminal acts" at the Republican Guard headquarters.
The prosecution also ordered 200 people to a 15-day stint in jail pending investigations. It had released earlier on Wednesday 446 of 652 suspects on bail.
Conflicting narratives emerged on how the violence started at the Republican Guard on Monday.
In an official statement the army said an "armed terrorist group" attempted to break into the Republican Guard headquarters in the early hours of Monday and "attacked security forces."
Military Spokesman Ahmed Aly claimed that pro-Morsi protesters, who have been gathering outside the Republican Guard headquarters for days, used live ammunition and bird shot against security personnel.
The FJP, however, claimed in a statement that "peaceful protesters were performing the fajjr [dawn] prayers" when the army "fired teargas and gunshots at them without regard for the sanctity of prayers or life."
A team of 60 investigators from the prosecution, supervised by Judge Mostafa Khater, East Cairo's prosecutor-general, are looking into the clashes.
Suspects are currently facing charges of manslaughter, voluntary manslaughter, thuggery, possession of unlicensed firearms, illegal possession of ammunition and weapons and undermining general security with the intention to terrorise.
Former president Morsi was deposed by Egypt's Armed Forces last week following massive nationwide protests calling for his ouster. Judge Adly Mansour, the head of the High Constitutional Court, was sworn in as the country's interim president on Thursday.
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