CAIRO, Nov 29: Egyptian police detained 28 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood movement in the northwestern coastal town of Marsa Matrouh on Saturday, police and Brotherhood sources said.The police sources said the Islamists, 24 from Marsa Matrouh province and four from the coastal city of Alexandria, were attending an organisational meeting. But the Brotherhood sources said police took them from their homes at dawn.

The government calls the Brotherhood an illegal organisation but allows it to operate openly within limits. The movement has held about a fifth of the seats in parliament since 2005.

The police often detain Brotherhood members and hold them for long periods before freeing them without charges.—Reuters