CAIRO, 29 March 2005 — Egyptian police detained more than 230 members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood before and during an attempt to protest outside Parliament in favor of political reform, a Brotherhood leader said yesterday.
The detainees include 84 Brotherhood leaders taken from their homes on Sunday morning and more than 150 demonstrators taken from the streets later in the day, Mohamed Mahdi Akef said in a statement.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said police detained 50 people altogether in connection with the protests. Police sources said 12 of those 50 — a photographer, four journalists and seven Brotherhood members — had since been released.
Thousands of police armed with sticks and shields were deployed in central Cairo from early Sunday and prevented most of the Brotherhood supporters from reaching Parliament.
But pockets of up to several hundred protested at other sites in the Cairo area.
Meanwhile, with the appointment of Israel’s new ambassador to Egypt, the long-stalled normalization between the two countries is moving forward.
Ambassador Shalom Cohen is currently the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s deputy director for the Middle East and the peace process. Shalom was the head of Israel’s delegation in Tunisia from 1996 to 2000 when the Tunisians closed their interest section in Tel Aviv.
“My team and myself are embarking on this mission realistically,” Cohen told reporters, noting that negotiations with the Palestinians will also benefit from the exchange of ambassadors. “All sides are aware of the importance of the warming of relations. The dialogue between the two countries is developing which will lead to joint activity and communication,” he said.
The press office for the Egyptian foreign minister declined to comment on Cohen’s appointment but said it might boost Israeli tourism in Egypt. The number of Israeli tourists to Egypt drastically declined after the Taba bombings last year.
