Egyptian cops detain 33
2006-05-29 12:12
Cairo - Egyptian police detained 33 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood Islamist group in Alexandria as they were preparing to vote in chamber of commerce elections, said a spokesperson for the group.
The Islamist group's representative Abdel Fattah said: "Twenty-nine people were arrested on Sunday during the elections, and four people were taken from their homes the day before.
"The Egyptian regime is unable to tolerate any opposition, even in the form of minor elections as in the case of the chamber of commerce elections."
The Muslim Brotherhood, which was officially banned in Egypt, fielded candidates as independents in the November-December 2005 parliamentary elections and won 20% of the seats.
The three-stage elections saw Mubarak's regime use heavy-handed tactics, banning people from casting their votes and sealing off polling stations.
More than 1 300 Muslim Brotherhood members were rounded up and imprisoned for the course of the election, but most were later released.
However, in recent weeks, hundreds of members of the group were detained after joining popular demonstrations in support of reformist judges calling for independence from the executive authority.
The Muslim Brotherhood was the country's largest opposition bloc, both in and out of parliament