Despite top leaders' arrests, Muslim
Brotherhood officials says group is determined to return to power •
Egyptian official tell Israel Hayom: New Brotherhood leader Ezzat more
extreme than Badie • Mohamed ElBaradei faces "betrayal of trust"
charges.
Supporters of ousted
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi hold posters as they march in Cairo on
Monday
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Photo credit: AP |
Humiliated, dressed only in pajamas, Muslim
Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie, 70, was brought before a Cairo court
on Tuesday and charged with inciting the murder of protesters and
security personnel. His remand was extended by 15 days as he awaits
trial.
Earlier on Tuesday, Badie was detained at a
hiding place in a residential apartment in Nasr City in northeast Cairo.
The arrest was made after Egyptian security forces received credible
and precise information on Badie's location.
The arrest of Badie and his deputy, as well as
the ongoing detention of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi,
means that all top Muslim Brotherhood leaders are now behind bars.
However, despite the Egyptian military's
ironfisted move against the group's leaders, Muslim Brotherhood
officials told Arab media outlets that the group's determination to
return to power had not waned.
After Badie's arrest, the Muslim Brotherhood quickly appointed Mahmoud Ezzat, 60, as the group's new leader.
A senior Egyptian security official told
Israel Hayom that Ezzat is known for his Islamic extremism and has spent
time in jail for anti-government activities.
"In comparison to Ezzat, Badie has moderate
positions," the official said. "We believe that Ezzat is in Yemen or
Gaza and the fact that he's not in Egypt will make it easier for him to
act and give orders from afar to movement activists without the fear
that he's breaking the law."
Meanwhile, funerals were held on Tuesday for
the 25 Egyptian border police officers who were executed by Islamic
radicals in the Sinai Peninsula on Monday. Egyptian Interior Minister
Mohamed Ibrahim, who received the coffins at a military airport in
Cairo, said authorities know who was responsible for the attack and
security forces were making great efforts to capture the perpetrators.
Also on Tuesday, Mohamed ElBaradei, who
resigned from his role as Egypt's interim vice president last week and
had since left the country for Vienna, was charged in an Egyptian court
for "betrayal of trust." ElBaradei associates said the case against
ElBaradei was political persecution meant to intimidate opponents of the
Egyptian military.
Meanwhile, Egypt's Justice Ministry announced
that a special court session would be held on Wednesday to consider a
request by former President Hosni Mubarak's lawyer for Mubarak's release
from jail. The chances of the request being granted are low, but the
former Egyptian leader does have some chance of being freed.
Two Egyptian judicial officials said earlier
this week that Mubarak could walk free this week or next after a
criminal court ordered his release in the corruption case in which
Mubarak and his two sons were accused of embezzling funds for the
maintenance of presidential palaces. His sons were ordered kept in
custody.
Monday's ruling, along with the fact that
Mubarak had previously been ordered released in the killings of the
protesters, have opened the possibility of freedom for the former
president.
However, an Egyptian Foreign Ministry official
told Israel Hayom that Mubarak's jail time had been extended this past
Saturday for 15 days on a technicality. He also said that the ousting of
Morsi did not mean the interim government intended to bring Egypt back
to the Mubarak era. Instead, he said, the government wants to move
forward.
"Releasing Mubarak could cause millions to take to the streets and drag Egypt again into chaos and instability," he said.
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