Egypt arrests two more Brotherhood officials

Egyptian security forces in Giza have arrested two more Muslim Brotherhood officials, sources told the local media yesterday. Mufti Abdul Rahman Al-Bar and Mahmoud Ghozlan were found in a flat as they prepared to leave the country, apparently with a large cache of money. According to the security forces, “a Muslim Brotherhood terrorist plan” had been discovered.

In a statement broadcast on Egyptian state television, it was claimed that the security forces had managed to monitor and thwart the Muslim Brotherhood’s “terrorist plans” to collect intelligence in order to execute hostile and violent operations against state agencies and institutions. “Specifically, these were the army, police, judiciary and journalists, as well as political leaders and public figures,” it was said. “They were tasked with these operations by the group’s leaders both inside and outside of Egypt and intended to form a terrorist cell.”

The regime forces also alleged that the group was collecting information on state institutions and sending it to foreign parties, although the latter were not identified. “False information was going to be released, intended to damage the country’s interests.”

Muslim Brotherhood leaders have, it is claimed, been giving instructions to the cell since 2012, during President Morsi’s term of office. The statement pointed out that the security agencies have carried out raids, confiscated weapons and made several arrests, but did not specify when.

Claims of “Brotherhood terrorist plots” being discovered have been made on many occasions by the Egyptian authorities over the past two years, especially since the military coup. These claims are usually followed by mock trials that end in harsh penalties, including death sentences.