Egypt Detains 26 Muslim Brotherhood Islamists

Egypt detained 26 Brotherhood islamists before local elections. The Muslim Brotherhood, spiritual inspiration for al Qaida, Hamas and parent organization for various US muslim groups, is a banned group in Egypt but the members run as independents in elections. Obviously the Egyptian government fears that members from the Muslim Brotherhood could win in the local election which only means they have strong support within Egypt. Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police detained 26 Muslim Brotherhood Islamists on Thursday including three leading members in a growing crackdown the opposition group says is meant to block them from contesting local elections in April.

Mahmoud Ghuzlan, a member of the Brotherhood's 15-member Guidance Office, was taken from his Cairo home at 2 a.m. (7:00 p.m. EST Wednesday), said Mohamed Habib, the deputy leader of the organization.

Two other senior officials, Hamdi Ibrahim and Maged el-Zumur, were taken from their homes in north Cairo, Habib told Reuters.

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The office acts as an executive committee for the Brotherhood, which is Egypt's largest opposition group with one fifth of the seats in parliament. Two other Guidance Office members including third-in-command Kairat el-Shatir are in detention facing military trial, the group said.

A Brotherhood spokesman said 26 Brotherhood members were detained on Thursday on top of more than 350 others they have been picked up in the campaign.