AL JAZEERA, REUTERS, BBC
CAIRO - Egyptian authorities escalated their crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood by arresting Mohamed Badie, the Islamist organization's top leader, state media reported on Tuesday.
The 70-year-old was detained at a residential apartment in Nasr City in northeast Cairo "after information came to the security apparatus locating his place of hiding," the state news agency reported.
According to Reuters, the Interior Ministry's Facebook page showed a picture of Badie under tight security with a caption confirming his arrest.
Al Jazeera said Badie and his two deputies will go on trial for their alleged role in the killing of eight protesters outside the Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters in June.
Egypt remains under curfew a week after nationwide bloody crackdown on protesters backing deposed President Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood member and Egypt's first democratically elected.
Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers will meet Wednesday in Brussels to discuss the situation in Egypt. The possibility of freezing the EU's financial aid to the country has not been ruled out, the BBC said. The EU had promised Cairo financial aid of $6.67 billion for the 2011-2013 period.
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Mohamed Badie in 2011 - Photo Wikimedia Commons
