CAIRO, June 19 (UPI) -- Egypt rounded up 37 members of the Muslim Brotherhood Organization in a fresh crack down on the outlawed group which scored well at general elections.
Security sources said the Islamists were seized Monday from three apartments in the resort town of Marsi Matrouh, 343 miles northwest of Cairo, for distributing leaflets carrying the ideology and political positions of the organization which has been banned since 1954.
But the Brotherhood said its seized members were just vacationing with their families, denying the alleged distribution of leaflets.
"Security forces raided the members of the Brotherhood Organization and took them away in police cars at dawn but they have not been presented to the public prosecution yet," the organization said on its internet Web site.
The group accused the authorities of leading a fierce campaign against Brotherhood members in past months following general elections and due to the group's political stances, including demands for a judiciary independent from the executive authorities.
The Muslim Brotherhood say the authorities hold more than 690 of its members due to their objection to the emergency laws renewed last April for another two years by a parliament controlled by the ruling National Democratic Party.
Also, hundreds of Brotherhood followers were rounded up in recent demonstrations in support of two reformist judges who had alleged vote rigging in the last elections.
Although it is legally banned, the Muslim Brotherhood is tolerated and has a large margin of political maneuvering which enabled it to grab 80 seats in last year's elections, becoming the largest opposition bloc in the 454-seat parliament.
