Egypt arrests Muslim Brothers after rejection of amendments

Egyptian security forces reportedly arrested nine members of the Muslim Brotherhood soon after members of parliament rejected constitutional amendments allegedly aimed at limiting the Islamist group’s political clout, BBC News reported yesterday.

The Brotherhood claims that the amendments are aimed at keeping them out of politics. While the Islamist group poses the greatest threat to President Hosni Mubarak’s ruling National Democratic Party, the Brotherhood is not legally recognized as a political party and candidates must run as independents.
The proposed constitutional amendments would, according to the article, “weaken the role of judges in monitoring elections.” An anti-terrorism clause would also give police sweeping powers of arrest and broad. The amendments would also ban political activity based on religion.

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