The Egyptian police cracked down on the leading opposition group, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, arresting 21 member, and placing them in a “preventive detention” for 15 days.
The members of the banned political group were arrested and held “on condition of anonymity,” officials said.
The arrests campaign came on Tuesday dawn to include several university professors, doctors and other professionals, the BBC reported.
The officials did not say what the detainees were suspected of doing.
But, AFP quoted police sources as saying that the arrested men were charged of "belonging to an illegal organization (and) attempting to reorganize their movement in order to propagate ideas to disturb public opinion."
The spokesman of the movement, that advocates the creation of an Islamic state, said that they have no idea why the arrests were carried out among its members.
"We are still asking ourselves 'Why?' Nothing happened at all," the spokesman Maamoun Al-Hodeibi said.
The Muslim Brotherhood condemns the US-led attacks on Afghanistan.
Al-Hodeibi was quoted by The Associated Press (AP) as saying that the arrests were inappropriate because "we should all stand united."
"There was no need to stir things up internally," he said.
The Muslim Brotherhood has been technically banned since 1954 and calls to legalize the group have been consistently rejected by the government, that claim they are a violent organization – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
