Egyptian authorities on July 10 ordered the arrest of Mohammed Badie [5], spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood [6] (Ikhwan [7]), as well as nine other leading Islamists, in an escalation of the crackdown against protesters of Egypt's current military-backed leadership. Badie is accused of inciting violence [8] in Cairo on July 8 in which more than 50 people were killed. Reports of the violence conflict, as the Brotherhood reports that soldiers carried out a massacre of peaceful demonstrators, while police and military forces say they acted in self-defense. The issued warrants further highlight the military's zero-tolerance policy [9] toward the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists, who continue to hold daily mass protests demanding the reinstatement of ousted president Morsi. Many Egyptians had hoped that Wednesday's start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan would help to calm the ongoing turmoil, but the sunrise-to-sunset fasting may only diminish protest activity during daytime hours.
From Jurist [10], July 10. Used with permission.
Note that following our sources, we reported that Badie had been arrested [11] on July 5.
