Egypt arrests Brotherhood supreme leader

Opponents of President Mohammed Morsi protesters shout slogans and wave national flags in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 2, 2013, after the Islamist president snubbed an ultimatum from the army to agree to the “people’s demands” or face an imposed solution. FILE PHOTO

CAIRO — Egyptian military police on Thursday arrested Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide Mohammed Badie, a security official said, as authorities rounded up members of the influential group from which ousted president Mohamed Morsi hails.

Badie “was arrested in (the western city of) Marsa Matrouh at the request of the prosecution for inciting the killing of protesters,” the official told AFP.

A judicial source told AFP that the prosecution would on Monday begin questioning members of the group, including Morsi, for “insulting the judiciary” as charges against the movement began to pile up.

Other Brotherhood leaders would be questioned on the same charges, the source said, including the head of the group’s political arm Saad al-Katatni, Mohammed al-Beltagui, Gamal Gibril and Taher Abdel Mohsen.

Morsi and other senior leaders have also been banned from travel pending investigation into their involvement in a prison break in 2011.

The Muslim Brotherhood, long-banned under former president Hosni Mubarak, shot to power after the 2011 uprising.