Egypt arrests Muslim Brotherhood leader in Cairo
Egyptian security forces arrested Mahmoud Ezzat during a raid on an apartment east of Cairo.
Egypt has arrested the acting leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Interior Ministry said Friday, as part of a long-running crackdown on the banned Islamist group.
“After monitoring his movement for a while,” Mahmoud Ezzat, 76, was found during a raid on an apartment in a Cairo suburb “despite incessant rumors circulated by officials of the Brotherhood about his presence abroad,” a ministry statement said.
The ministry said police searching the apartment discovered a number of encrypted computers and mobile phones used to communicate with Brotherhood members.
Ezzat had previously been sentenced twice in absentia to death, as well as life imprisonment, for charges including espionage and leadership of a terrorist group. Under Egyptian law, those convicted in absentia face retrials after their arrest.
