CAIRO: Security forces arrested five members of the Muslim Brotherhood on Sunday in what the opposition Islamist group said was the latest sign of curbs on political freedoms. An Interior Ministry official said the arrested men were found in possession of anti-government publications. By making the arrests, the government was sending a message to Egyptian opposition groups that they must forget talk of political reform, Brotherhood deputy leader Mohamed Habib said. He told Reuters three members were arrested in the early hours of the morning. Twelve others, including leading members, were arrested on Friday, he said. The Interior Ministry said on Saturday it had arrested four Brotherhood members. Members of the group have said the detentions could be a message from the government that it will not change how it deals with the group after it won 88 seats in recent parliamentary elections, making it the assembly s largest opposition bloc. Mohammed Mahdi Akef, the supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, denounced the arrests in a statement, saying the sweep was an oppressive operation. The men were picked up on Saturday morning after the police entered their homes, the official said. Two of the men were from the northern city of Alexandria, one was from Giza, near Cairo, and another from Gharbia, north of the capital, the official added. On Friday, police picked up Rashad Bayoumi, a member of the group s 13-member Guidance Office. Seven other members were detained on the same day, the official said. Previous reports said Bayoumi and six others were detained on Friday. The official said 12 Brotherhood members in total have been picked up over the past two days. The official added the prosecutor general s office had ordered Bayoumi, along with the other seven men detained on Friday, to be detained for 15 days pending investigation. The four men picked up on Saturday were still being processed by police and the prosecutor general s office had not yet ruled what should happen to them, he said. In a statement on Friday s detentions, the Brotherhood denounced the measures taken by the police and called for an end to Egypt s emergency laws, imposed in 1981, which critics say are used by the state to silence opponents. The authorities often renew the 15-day period of detention. Essam El-Erian, the last most senior Brotherhood member to be detained, was released in October after five months in jail without trial. Membership of the Brotherhood is against the law, making it possible for the police to detain members at any time. But the organization has an office open to the public and its candidates did not hide their affiliation during the elections. Agencies
