Abu Al Fatouh detained over Brotherhood links
Former presidential candidate also charged with incitement to overthrow government
Egyptian police have arrested leading Islamist Abdul Moneim Abu Al Fatouh over alleged links with the banned Muslim Brotherhood, security sources said yesterday.
Abu Al Fatouh was arrested late on Wednesday at his house in the district of Al Tajamuh Al Khames on the outskirts of Cairo hours after he returned from a trip to London, the sources added.
He is facing charges of having connections with an outlawed group and inciting the overthrow of the government, the sources added.
Six others arrested
Six others from Abu Al Fatouh’s Strong Egypt Party were also arrested.
Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency said that the arrests were made upon warrants issued by the Higher State Security Prosecution.
The arrests come weeks before Egypt’s presidential elections in which President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi is poised to win a second term in office.
Abu Al Fatouh, 66, is an outspoken critic of Al Sissi.
A former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Abu Al Fatouh unsuccessfully competed in the 2012 presidential polls that Mohammad Mursi of the Brotherhood won.
Egypt banned the Brotherhood in 2013 after Mursi’s ouster following widespread protests against his rule.
Al Fatouh quit the Muslim Brotherhood in 2011 to mount an independent bid for the presidency and distanced himself from the group since then.