Egypt arrests 21 members of outlawed Islamic group

By The Associated Press

CAIRO, Egypt – Egyptian police have arrested 21 members of a banned political group that advocates the creation of an Islamic state, officials said Tuesday.

The members of the Muslim Brotherhood were ordered held for 15 days while prosecutors interrogate them, police officials said on condition of anonymity. The officials did not say what the detainees were suspected of doing.

A Muslim Brotherhood spokesman said he knew that 15 members of the group were arrested at their homes in Cairo and Giza, a district to Cairo's west, late Monday night.

"We are still asking ourselves 'Why?' Nothing happened at all," Maamoun el-Hodeibi said.

The group said in a statement that most of the detainees were either medical doctors, university professors or engineers.

Although the Muslim Brotherhood condemns the U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan, el-Hodeibi said the arrests were inappropriate because "we should all stand united."

"There was no need to stir things up internally," he said.

The government banned the Muslim Brotherhood in 1954, accusing it of advocating violence. But the group says it has renounced violence.

It is now allowed to issue statements and endorse independent candidates in elections. In the last parliamentary elections, 17 Muslim Brotherhood members won seats, making them the largest opposition parliamentary bloc.

AP-WS-11-06-01 1612EST