By Xinhua
Cairo : The Higher State Security Prosecution of Egypt on Monday decided to remand a senior leader of the banned Muslim Brotherhood in custody for 15 days for the third time, the official MENA news agency reported.
Essam el-Erian, along with 14 other Muslim Brotherhood members,was remanded in custody pending investigation, said the report, without elaborating the date of the previous two decisions by the Higher State Security Prosecution.
According to an earlier MENA report, Essam el-Erian and other members of the outlawed movement were arrested in Giza Governorate on Aug. 17 when they were said to be planning a meeting of the group.
The defendants were facing charges of joining an outlawed group and possessing leaflets promoting ideas that may destabilize the country, said the report.
Scores of Muslim Brotherhood members have been reportedly arrested recently.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which was officially banned in 1954 for its attempt to set up an Islamic government, virtually has 88 seats in the 454-member lower house of parliament after its members ran as independents in Egypt’s 2005 legislative elections.