Egypt’s Army Continues Round-Up of Muslim Brotherhood Leaders

Warns Against 'Circle of Revenge' as It Continues Political Arrests

Egypt’s Army has issued a statement admonishing all faction to avoid attacks on political officials, saying there is a risk of the nation “falling into an endless circle of revenge” after this week’s coup.

That’s not stopping the army from its own political round-up, however, as it continues its mass arrest of members of the ousted Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) as well as the Muslim Brotherhood.

Spiritual leader Mohammed Badie was the latest arrested, taken from a friend’s home and flown by military helicopter to Cairo, where he is being held without charges by the new junta. Around 200 political figures overall are believed to be in a similar spot.

Egypt had a long history of politically-motivated detentions before the revolution, and there are growing fears that following the coup it is back to business as usual, and Mubarak-style detentions of anyone seen as a political threat to the new junta.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.