Egyptian police arrest 73 Muslim Brotherhood members

A spokesman for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood today said 73 members of the group had been arrested.

The arrests appeared to be a pre-emptive strike prior to elections and a key parliamentary debate.

Police did not give a reason for the early morning detentions, but a spokesman for the Muslim Bortherhood told the Associated Press that most of those arrested were expected to stand in April elections for the Shura, the upper house of the Egyptian parliament.

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The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928, was outlawed in 1954 but is normally tolerated and forms the largest bloc in parliamentary oppostion to the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak.

Its candidates stand as independents, but their campaigns are financed by the Muslim Brotherhood and voters know their allegiance.

The arrests bring the number of Muslim Brotherhood members in Egyptian custody to just under 300, according to figures provided by the organisation and the US-based Human Rights Watch.

bdel Gelil el-Sharnoubi, the editor of the Muslim Brotherhood website, said the group had not yet chosen its candidates, but added that the government had "targeted figures who are popular in their provinces and are expected to run the elections".

The organisation did unexpectedly well in the 2005 legislative ballot, winning 88 seats in the 454-seat parliament.