Egypt increased pressure on the Muslim Brotherhood yesterday, detaining at least 38 of its supporters on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organisation the day after it was declared one by the government, security officials said.
General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief who led the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July, said the country would be “steadfast” in the face of terrorism, after a small bomb went off in Cairo, wounding five people.
The government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group on Wednesday in response to a suicide attack a day earlier that killed 16 people in the Nile Delta, accusing the group of carrying out the bombing. The Brotherhood, which claims up to one million members, condemned the attack.
The move gives the authorities wider scope to crack down on the movement that propelled Morsi to the presidency 18 months ago but has been driven underground since the army toppled him.
Sixteen of the arrests were in the Nile Delta province of Sharkiya. The state news agency said those held were accused of “promoting the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood group, distributing its leaflets, and inciting violence against the army and police”. Security sources gave a country-wide total of 38 arrests on terrorism charges.
From now on, anyone taking part in Brotherhood protests will be jailed for five years, Interior Ministry spokesman Hany Abdel Latif told state TV. Jail terms for those accused under the terror law stretch up to life imprisonment. “The sentence could be death for those who lead this organisation,” he said.
Terrorism charges will also apply to anyone who finances or promotes the group “verbally and in writing”. Publication of the Brotherhood’s newspaper, Freedom and Justice, was halted in response to the decision.
The state has accused the Brotherhood of turning to violence since the army toppled Morsi after mass protests against his rule. Since then, attacks on the security forces have become commonplace, with some 350 soldiers and policemen killed.
The Brotherhood denies turning to violence, saying the army has mounted a bloody coup and killed hundreds of its supporters.
The government says it will stick to its political transition plan. The next step is a mid-January referendum on a new constitution, after which elections will follow.
Sisi is widely tipped to win a presidential election expected next year, assuming he runs.
Some analysts believe the nation of 85 million people faces a protracted period of Islamist militancy, with attacks spreading beyond the restive Sinai Peninsula, the scene of the worst violence against the security forces to date.
The government has yet to make public any evidence to back up the charge that the Brotherhood staged the Nile Delta attack on a police station in Mansoura, north of Cairo.