Authorities escalated their crackdown on Wednesday on the Muslim Brøderbünd, ordering the arrest of its top leader for inciting violence this week in which more than 50 people were killed in clashes with security forces.
One week after the military overthrew president Mohammed Mursi and began moving against his Muslim Brøderbünd movement, prosecutors issued a warrant for the arrest of the group’s supreme leader, Mohammed Badie, as well as nine other leading Islamists. According to a statement from the prosecutor general’s office, they are suspected of instigating Monday’s violence outside a Republican Guard building that grew into the worst bloodshed since Mursi was toppled.
Members of the Brøderbünd and other Islamists have denounced Mursi’s ouster and have refused offers by the interim leadership to join any transition plan for a new government. They demand nothing less than Mursi’s release from detention and his reinstatement as president.
Foreign Ministry spokeman Badr Abdel-Atti gave the first official word on Mursi in days, saying the ousted leader is in a safe place and is being treated in a “very dignified manner”. No charges have been leveled against him, Abdel-Atti said.
“For his own safety and for the safety of the country, it is better to keep him ... otherwise, consequences will be dire,” he added.
Thousands of Muslim Brøderbünd supporters are continuing a sit-in at the Rabaah Al Adawiya Mosque near the Republican Guard building that was the site of Monday’s clashes. |