Egypt detains Brotherhood members before re-run vote
Date 2010/1/25 15:05:34 | Topic: Afran
| CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces detained nine Muslim Brotherhood members in the Nile Delta north of the capital on Sunday as they prepared for a re-run parliament vote, security sources said.
The re-run was for a seat contested in the 2005 parliamentary election where the Brotherhood had claimed victory. In several seats, the authorities ordered a new vote because of alleged abuses. Many re-runs have been delayed till recent months.
The banned Brotherhood secured a fifth of parliament seats in 2005 when members ran as independents. The authorities have since increasingly squeezed the group out of mainstream politics and analysts say the group is likely to see its bloc shrink in the parliamentary election due later this year.
The nine arrested on Sunday had been supporting the campaign of a Brotherhood member, Hussein Sabi, running for a seat in the Daqahliya governorate in the Nile Delta.
Brotherhood members are regularly rounded up but these arrests were the first since the group's new leader, Mohamed Badeea, was announced on January 16, and follows a trend of detentions before votes for national or local bodies.
Badeea signalled a non-confrontational approach towards President Hosni Mubarak's government and stressed the group's rejection of violence, in his acceptance speech.
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