CAIRO: Egypt's State Security Prosecutor accused a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood group of receiving LE 18 million from the international Brotherhood organization to finance the illegal group. The accused include Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, secretary general of the Arab Doctors' Union, along with eight other detained Brotherhood leaders. The prosecution said that investigations revealed that Osama Soliman, one of the detainees, is involved in money laundering with overseas Brotherhood members, who are financing its local branch. "Egyptian security officials received a memo from the money laundering and terrorism funding unit at the Central Bank that indicated that a sum of ?2.7 million was transferred from Lebanon to Soliman's bank account on successive days, according to the prosecutor's statement. Investigations show that the money was allegedly transferred for investment purposes, but the prosecution claimed it was intended to finance the group. The investigations also claimed that some 13 illegal Egyptian companies manage and invest money to finance the Brotherhood. The prosecution accused the detainees of money laundering, terrorism and joining an illegal group "whose main aim is to undermine state institutions and violate the constitution. Other prominent detainees include Gamal Abdel Salam, chairman of the emergency committee in the Arab Doctors' Union and former Brotherhood candidate in the 2005 parliamentary elections; Abdel Rahman Al-Gamal, an employee at the Ministry of Education in Gharbeya, Brotherhood members Reda Fahmy, Ali Al-Hadidi, Khaled Al-Sayed Beltagy, Adel Rahem Afifi and Mohamed Taha Wahdan, from Cairo, Giza, Port Said and Ismailia. Mohamed Habib, the Brotherhood's deputy leader said the group will not falter with regards to its stance on local and international politics. Habib further stated that the recent crackdown is meant to discourage them from participating in the coming parliamentary and presidential elections. Habib claimed that rumors of dissolving the People's Assembly as well as the buzz surrounding Gamal Mubarak's contention for presidency "had the government confused, so it started looking for old and false accusations against the group to crack down on its members and weaken the group's role in political reform and development. Moreover, Hamdy Al-Sayed, chairman of the Doctors' Syndicate, told Daily News Egypt that Amr Moussa, secretary general of the Arab League personally promised him to intervene in the release Aboul Fotouh. Last week, Al-Sayed sent an official memo to Moussa urging him to intervene since the Arab Doctors' Union is one of the Arab League's organizations. "Moussa only has his good will but the government might have a different agenda that mainly relies on protecting its own interests, Al-Sayed said. The Zaqaziq Criminal Court revoked a previous verdict made by a Misdemeanor Appeals Court to release the nine Brotherhood members from Sharqeya and approved the prosecution's initial decision to sentence the accused members to 15 days in jail.
