By Agence France Presse (AFP)
 
CAIRO: Egyptian police have arrested dozens of Muslim Brotherhood members including three candidates for this month’s Parliamentary election, security officials and the Islamists said Thursday.

Brotherhood lawyer Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsud said 31 of the group’s members were detained in the port city of Ismailia Wednesday and Thursday, including  three candidates for the district.

“They were taken from their homes. The candidates were arrested on the street,” Abdel-Maqsud said, adding that they were detained along with three lawyers Wednesday.

Police also arrested 16 Brotherhood members in a suburb of the capital Cairo Thursday, said the lawyer.
Security officials said they arrested 28 Islamists in Ismailia, and that the three candidates and three lawyers were charged with assaulting security officers.

The Brotherhood, which controls a fifth of Parliament, is the country’s largest opposition movement, despite a ban on religious parties. It registers its candidates as independents.

The group has accused the government of arresting dozens of its members since it announced it would run in the November 28 election. Most of those arrested are generally released within weeks. – AFP