Police on Sunday arrested six prominent members of the Muslim Brotherhood, including two leaders and four top businessmen, in separate dawn raids across the country, police and the Islamic opposition group said. A police official said the six were arrested for activities aimed at "reviving efforts" of the outlawed group and that along with the arrests, authorities confiscated material and publications related to the Brotherhood. The police official spoke on customary condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Abdel Gelil el-Sharnoubi, editor of the Brotherhood's Web site, said Mohammed Ali Bishr, member of the group's decision-making bureau, was arrested in Menoufia, 60 kilometers north of Cairo. Issam Hashish, Brotherhood leader in Cairo's twin city of Giza, was arrested there.