The spiritual leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, has been arrested at an apartment in the Nasr City district of Cairo after a tipoff, Egyptian police and state TV reported Tuesday.
The private TV channel ON Television showed footage of the Brotherhood’s leader, formally known as the movement’s supreme guide, under arrest and looking tired and downcast.
The 70-year-old Mr. Badie had been a fugitive since an arrest warrant was issued last month on charges of incitement to violence and murder.
Hundreds of supporters of the Brotherhood have been arrested and hundreds more killed since the military-backed government cracked down last week on protests against the July 3 ouster of Brotherhood-backed President Mohammed Morsi.
The government has declared a state of emergency and is openly considering trying to dissolve the Muslim Brotherhood, a movement that espouses political Islam and the imposition of religious law.
Mr. Badie’s arrest Monday came just days after his 38-year-old son, Ammar, was shot dead during protests in Cairo’s Ramses Square, CBS reported.
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Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Ahmed Aref warned in a statement that the struggle against the military would continue despite the elder Mr. Badie’s arrest.
“Mohammed Badie is one member of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Mr. Aref said in a posting on the group’s website. “No one has the right to relinquish Egyptians’ right to a secure life away from the treacherous and corrupt gang behind the July 3 coup. The revolution shall never die.”
The Brotherhood’s political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, announced on its website that Mahmoud Ezzat, currently deputy leader, would take over Mr. Badie’s role temporarily, the BBC reported.
Mr. Badie and his former deputy, Khairat al-Shatir, who was arrested last month, will face trial this month on charges arising from the shooting deaths of eight anti-Brotherhood demonstrators outside the group’s headquarters in June.
• Shaun Waterman can be reached at swaterman@washingtontimes.com.
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