Sixteen leading members of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood (MB) opposition group, including Mahmoud Ezzat, deputy general guide and secretary-general, are to be released from detention following two months in custody, the group's lawyer said on Tuesday. On Sunday, a Cairo criminal court ordered the release of 16 senior members detained in February for allegedly organizing training camps to stage attacks in Egypt. “We have paid a bail of LE5000 (nearly US$909) for each member today,” Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud, the MB's lawyer told Al-Masry Al-Youm. He said the group's leaders will be transferred tomorrow to their governorates' local State Security offices to be released there. It is not yet clear if the 16 men will in fact be released. According to Egypt's Emergency Law, in force since 1981, the Interior Ministry has the right to override similar court decisions. “We hope the authorities will release the leaders tomorrow, but anything is possible and in the past they've used administrative measures to renew the detention of our members,” Abdel Maqsoud explained. The organization denies the allegations made against its members and says it wants to establish an Islamic state by peaceful means. Among those detained is Ezzat who is widely recognized as the group's mastermind. He oversees the group's complex organizational hierarchy and funding structure. Other detainees are Essam el-Erian, spokesman for the group and member of its governing body. The Brotherhood, though banned, won a fifth of the seats parliament in 2005 when their members ran as independents. Since then authorities have been squeezing the Islamist group out of mainstream politics. Analysts expect the group's support to shrink before parliamentary elections later this year.
