Egypt Police Hold 60 Islamists Over Gaza Protests

The Egyptian government cooperates with the Israeli blockade of Gaza, in line with an agreement signed in 2005.

Egyptian police raided the homes of members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday and took away about 60 of them, including organisers of recent protests against the government's role in the blockade of Gaza.

The dawn raids were in the Nile Delta provinces of Sharkia and Gharbia, the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and the Suez Canal town of Ismailia, police and Brotherhood sources said.

The police sources said the number held was 60 and could rise. The Brotherhood website (www.ikhwanonline.com) named 47.

The Brotherhood, which is close to the Hamas movement that runs Gaza, has organised a succession of peaceful protests in the provinces in recent weeks demanding the government open the Egyptian border with Gaza for goods and people.

The Egyptian government cooperates with the Israeli blockade of Gaza, in line with an agreement signed in 2005.

Cairo is worried that if it opens the border against Israeli wishes, it might have to assume full responsibility for supplying Gaza with everything it needs, analysts say.

The government calls the Brotherhood an illegal organisation but allows it to operate openly within limits.

Police often hold members of the Islamist organisation for long periods without trial or formal charges. The group said last week that about 171 members were then in detention.