CAIRO: Security forces detained 17 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood on Saturday, security sources said, in a fresh step targeting the country s strongest opposition movement. The sources said the Brotherhood members were arrested at a home in Manoufiya province north of Cairo. They said authorities found anti-government books and pamphlets in the home. A spokesman for the Brotherhood said the members were on a private visit to the home of a member. He said the detentions brought to 87 the number of Brotherhood members being held in Egyptian jails. The arrests came days after a Cairo court overturned a decision to release two Brotherhood leaders, detained during anti-government protests in May, and ordered them to stay in jail for 15 more days. These arrests come as a message from the regime to the Brotherhood indicating that the period of relative calm, which didn t last but a month, has ended, lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud said in remarks published on the Brotherhood s Web site (http://www.ikhwanonline.com). The Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned in Egypt. But members elected as independents hold 88 seats in the 454-seat parliament, and the group operates openly within limits. The Egyptian police regularly detain Brotherhood members for brief periods, often without charges. Hundreds were arrested in a crackdown following parliamentary elections held late last year. Most have since been released. Reuters
