Egyptian security forces arrested six members of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) opposition movement on Sunday in the Nile Delta's Beheira Governorate, according to both security and MB sources.
An anonymous security source said the men were arrested on charges of “promoting the ideas of a banned movement, disturbing public security, and possession of literature promoting ideas that could potentially endanger public peace and security.”
MB sources, for their part, said security forces had arrested the men in an early morning raid in Kafr al-Dawar–one of the governorate's largest cities–while the latter were hanging posters calling for political reform and public participation in upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for 28 November.
"These latest arrests of group leaders and members, as well as the confiscation of goods and money, exposes the true intentions of the regime," said an MB source. "Not to mention the regime's willingness to rig upcoming elections in favor of candidates from the ruling National Democratic Party."
Some observers believe the regime is hoping to prevent a repeat of the group’s 2005 parliamentary successes, when it managed to capture 88 seats–roughly one fifth–of the People's Assembly.
NDP officials recently declared that the MB would fail to win a comparable number of seats in the upcoming races.
The group had earlier announced plans to vie for one third of the 518 seats in parliament .
