Egyptian security forces arrested Muslim Brotherhood leading figure Saad El-Husseini on Monday, as part of an ongoing crackdown on the Islamist group’s members, following the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi amidst mass popular protests. El-Husseini was located and taken from a house in the district of New Cairo on the outskirts of the capital on Monday evening.
Fifty-four year old El-Husseini is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Guidance Bureau – the group’s highest administrative board – and a senior member in the group’s Freedom and Justice Party. He is also the former governor of the Delta governorate of Kafr El-Sheikh. Dozens of leading Brotherhood figures, including the group’s Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, and hundreds of members have been arrested since security forces dispersed two large pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo on 14 August, during which hundreds were killed. Most of the Brotherhood leaders who have been arrested over the last few weeks have been accused of ‘inciting violence’ during clashes that broke out in the wake of the ouster of Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood.