CAIRO: Egyptian police have detained the opposition Kefaya movement s coordinator in western Cairo hours before he planned a demonstration to demand better public services, the movement said on its Web site on Monday. Mohamed El-Ashkar, an activist who organizes Kefaya in Giza province, was picked up and questioned on Sunday, it said. A few days ago he was charged with inciting hatred of the regime by putting Kefaya stickers on his car and released, it added. Ashkar was planning a demonstration at the governor s office on Monday in protest at the prevalence of rubbish in the area despite the garbage disposal fee automatically added to electricity bills in the province. In his absence a handful of Kefaya supporters took part in the protest. Kefaya came to prominence last year in opposition to a fifth six-year term for President Hosni Mubarak or any attempt to pass the presidency to Mubarak s businessman son Gamal. But Mubarak s reelection last year and the decline in US interest in political reform in Egypt have greatly weakened Kefaya, which has not held a major protest all year, political analysts said. The Interior Ministry said it had no information about the detention of Ashkar.
