Egyptian police on Monday night opened fire on supporters of a Muslim Brotherhood (MB) candidate for the November parliamentary elections. The incident was the first of its kind this election season. Security forces in Alexandria attacked supporters of candidate Mahmoud Attiya, a member of the MB parliamentary bloc and the Education Committee in the People's Assembly, security sources said on Tuesday. The supporters were attacked while hanging up posters listing Attiya's achievements over the last five years. The source claimed that Attiya's supporters assaulted security personnel after they were prevented from distributing leaflets espousing the Brotherhood's ideology. The incident prompted security personnel to fire in self-defense, which resulted in some supporters accidentally being shot, according to the source. On its website, the MB said dozens of secret police and security forces attacked Attiya's supporters, beating them and arresting three. Attiya was quoted as saying the shootings set a precedent for treatment of opposition groups during this month's parliamentary election. "We will not let this incident pass,” Attiya said, adding that the ruling regime “loves violence” and that “those involved must be prosecuted.” In a show of force, the MB organized 13 protests in Alexandria last week drawing a total of 15 000 members. The protesters marched through 19 districts in the city. The MB also complained that the High Elections Commission banned 29 of their candidates without reason, after they had submitted their nomination papers. Hamdi Hassan, the media spokesman for the MB's parliamentary bloc, confirmed that the committee banned all Brotherhood candidates running for the worker-allocated seats in Alexandria. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
