Egypt detains 1,200 opposition activists

Egypt’s largest opposition group says the government has arrested over 1,000 of its members ahead of the country’s parliamentary vote next week.

The Muslim Brotherhood officials said on Monday that at least 1,200 members have been arrested in recent weeks.

The detainees include eight of the group’s nominees for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

“The regime is sending a message that there will be no elections,” Saad Katatni, a leading Brotherhood lawmaker, said in a Monday press conference in Cairo.

He also condemned the government’s crack down on opposition.

Meanwhile, the group’s spokesman Mohammed Mursi has warned of possible fraud in the polls.

Brotherhood leaders say the government’s widespread crackdown on the opposition means there will not even be a semblance of free and fair elections.

Over the past few days, campaign rallies for the candidates of the group across the country have been disrupted by police.

On Saturday, Egyptian police clashed with opposition members in Sharqiya province and in Alexandria.

Police used teargas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

A total of 134 Brotherhood candidates are to take part in the elections.

The movement, which currently holds 88 seats in parliament, is registering them as “independents” in order to circumvent a ban on religious parties.

Representatives of the Egyptian Alliance for Monitoring Elections have urged President Hosni Mubarak to intervene immediately in keeping with his pledge of free and fair elections.

The alliance is made of 123 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and several civil society groups.

“At a time when the government refuses to allow international supervision, it is practically also refusing supervision by civil society groups,” AFP quoted an alliance spokesman as saying.

“If our observers can not enter polling stations without prior authorization from station officials and cannot ask how the vote is being run, we will not observe the election.”

The developments come a day after London-based human rights group Amnesty International criticized Egyptian authorities for a fresh crackdown on the opposition.

The rights group called on Egypt to prevent its security forces from intimidating and harassing candidates and voters.

Egyptian rights groups say the November 28 polls are unlikely to be fair due to heavy government pressure.

The last elections in 2005 were marred by violence and fraud allegations.