Egyptian police arrested some 35 members of the outlawed Muslim
Brotherhood (MB) in the Nile Delta on Saturday, the first day of
Islam's Eid al-Fitr festival that marks the end of the holy month
of Ramadan, the official MENA news agency reported.
Police detained the MB members in Faquos, Sharqiya governorate,
some 65 km north of the capital of Cairo, when they tried to
prevent mosque Imams from leading congregations to perform outdoor
prayers for Eid al-Fitr, a police source was quoted as saying.
According to MENA, some 150 members of the outlawed group took
part in the action by force to prevent Imams from heading to
outdoor plots to lead the festival prayers in al-Salihya
district.
The police dispersed most of the MB members as they hurled
stones against the police, leaving a police lieutenant injured, and
arrested 35 of them.
Officially banned in 1954 for its attempt to set up an Islamic
government, the MB won 88 seats in the 454-member lower house of
parliament after its members ran as independents in 2005
legislative elections.
An Egyptian constitutional amendment adopted by a national
referendum late March prohibited the forming of any political party
on religious bases.
(Xinhua News Agency October 14, 2007)
