In The Days

• Source: Reuters
• News Date: 2/28/08

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian security forces arrested five members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday, including a former parliamentary candidate, in sweeps ahead of local elections due in April, the Brotherhood said.

Ishmael

“And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
—Genesis 16:12

Perilous Times

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
—2Timothy 3:1-2a

”But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”
—2Timothy 3:13

The men, mostly professionals in mid-level leadership positions, were taken from their homes in Menoufia in the Nile Delta, where the Brotherhood has a strong popular base.

Egypt stepped up arrests of members of the country’s strongest opposition group this month, arresting more than 200 Brotherhood members and activists in the past two weeks alone. More than 550 Brotherhood members are currently held, according to the group.

Security sources said the men were accused of belonging to a banned group and possessing anti-government literature. Ibrahim Haggag, a former candidate in Egyptian parliamentary elections, was among those detained on Thursday, the Brotherhood said.

The non-violent Muslim Brotherhood, which holds a fifth of the seats in the lower house of parliament through members elected as independents to circumvent a ban, seeks an Islamic state through democratic means and operates openly despite a decades-old ban.

Egypt postponed local council elections for two years in 2006 after the Brotherhood performed better than expected in a 2005 parliamentary election.

The local vote is now due to be held on April 8.

Seats on local councils could be important to the Brotherhood, the country’s strongest opposition force, on a national level if the group wants to field an independent candidate for a presidential run in the future.

Independent candidates for the presidency need endorsements from 140 members of local councils to run, in addition to votes from the upper and lower houses of parliament.