Egyptian authorities detained 39 members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Eleven were arrested May 20 in the southern province of Beni Sueif on charges of holding “a secret meeting.” Fourteen more were detained in dawn raids May 21 in the province of Sharqiyah, including Abdel Aziz Abdel Qader, who heads the group’s Sharqiyah office. The move comes as Egypt closes the door for candidate nominations for next month’s upper house parliamentary elections. (AlJazeera, May 21) The Brotherhood is officially banned, but its leaders are sometimes allowed to run for office as independents.
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