CAIRO: Egyptian police arrested senior Muslim Brotherhood politician Mohamed Al-Beltagi and a former government minister on Thursday, the Interior Ministry said.
The firebrand politician was arrested in a village outside Cairo with former labor minister Khaled Al-Azhari, who served in ousted president Muhammad Mursi’s government, the ministry said.Beltagi, who had issued defiant video recordings in hiding, was the latest Brotherhood leader detained in a wide-ranging crackdown on the movement.A former MP, he became one of the most vociferous opponents of the popularly backed military coup that toppled Mursi on July 3.
Prosecutors had issued a warrant for Beltagi on charges of inciting violence.Although respected by many youths, Beltagi was not seen as possessing much influence in the top ranks of the Brotherhood.He became one of the movement’s chief spokesmen after Mursi’s ouster, and outraged the former president’s opponents when he said militant attacks on security forces in Sinai would end only with Mursi’s restoration.His daughter, Asmaa, was killed on August 14 in a deadly police operation that broke up two protest camps in Cairo. – ArabNews
