Eight leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood group in Cairo have been arrested, the Interior Ministry announced. The arrest took place during a group meeting where members were planning to "provoke the wrath of the public".
According to a statement on Wednesday: “the ministry's national security sector was informed that terrorist leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood were planning a scheme to provoke the public regarding the country's poor economic situation, and were coordinating with extremist entities to harm national security. The group members were going to create several crises."
“The group’s meeting was stormed after receiving permission from the state security prosecution,” it added.
Security services have launched several raids over the past few days and arrested people, said to be affiliated to the Brotherhood, who have been planning to incite people against the government ahead of January 25, according to a previous statement.
In December 2013, Egypt banned the group and labelled it as a terrorist organization in the wake of a blast at Daqahliya security department in Mansoura that left 16 dead and dozens injured. Thousands of the group leaders and supporters were arrested. However, the group continues to deny the charges levelled at it by authorities over its involvement in violence.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
