CAIRO: Egypt's Higher State Security Prosecution extended the detention of Muslim Brotherhood (MB) deputy leader Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh and five other members for 15 days. This is the second 15-day extension for Aboul Fotouh, an Egyptian doctor and secretary general of the Arab Doctors' Union. The five other Brotherhood members still in detention include Gamal Abdel Salam, chairman of the emergency committee at the union and former Brotherhood candidate in the 2005 parliamentary elections, Ali Al-Hadidy, Ahmed Aly Abbas, Reda Fahmy and Abdel Rahman Al-Gamal. These members were part of a group of nine arrested in June for on charges of belonging to an illegal group. On Sunday, doctors protested in front of Dar Al-Hekma Hospital in Nasr City, calling for the release of Aboul Fotouh and his colleagues. The protest also saw the participation of prominent MB leader Essam Al-Arian, who is also the treasurer of the Egyptian Doctors' Syndicate, as well as members of both the Arab Doctors' Union and the syndicate. At the same time, West Alexandria Prosecution ordered eight MB members arrested on Sunday to 15 days in jail pending investigations. In related news, the South Cairo Criminal Court overturned the Ministry of Interior's decision to detain 13 deputy Brotherhood members including prominent member Osama Nasr Al-Din. MB lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud said this verdict, the second release order from the court, "puts an end to claims by the Ministry of Interior against honorable MB leaders.
