November 11, 2007	Sunday	Shawwal 29, 1428

CAIRO, Nov 10: Egyptian police arrested 11 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood and two Christian activists in separate incidents, a police official said on Saturday.Late on Friday, police stormed an apartment in the Nile Delta province of Mansoura, north of the capital Cairo, and arrested 11 members of the country’s largest opposition group as they were holding a meeting.

The Brotherhood, which has been banned since 1954, currently holds 88 seats in the 454-member lower house of parliament.

Authorities have increasingly cracked down on the Islamist group since December, including sending 40 of its top financiers and businessmen to a military tribunal on charges of money laundering and supporting terrorism.

Separately, two Christian activists were arrested, and their computers and documents were seized in the early hours of the morning, the official added on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorised to speak to the press.

The two belong to the Canadian-based the Middle East Christian Association, known as MECA, the official said, providing no further details.

The men were identified as Wagih Yacoub and just “Victor” on the organisation’s website, which said there was no charge or reason given for the arrests.

Two other activists from the same association were detained in August for allegedly posting anti-Islamic messages on the group’s website before being released two weeks ago.—AP